Aces High
by RockRoy
Summary: Sam Parker, an unclaimed demigod, discovers the world of the Greek gods and their children. Read as he learns who he is, whilst also battling issues from his past and dangers that lurk in the shadows. Rated T. Reviews (and tips) are much appreciated.
1. Prologue

**Author's Note: Hi. This is my rewrite of my first regular PJO fanfic, inspired by multiple others I have read/am reading. It follows an OC who discovers the world of PJO. The story will feature several of the original characters, albeit maybe slightly OOC. Hope you enjoy the prologue of this new story.**

 **EDIT: It seems that people read this prologue but don't seem to continue. And I was wondering why this is. Is it too short, too revealing, …? Reviews/PM's are appreciated.**

* * *

 **Prologue**

Moonlight lit up the small kitchen they had. She poured herself a glass of cold water. As she gulped it down, a noise startled her. She waved her hand and a dagger appeared in it. Her eyes focused on the door.

'Lou? You in here?'

She relaxed and deposited the weapon on the table as the voice came walked into the kitchen. She stared her brother in the eyes. The second in command of the cabin raised his eyebrows.

'Again?'

Lou Ellen wiped the sweat off her brow and nodded. 'It's the same one as last time. The putrid smell, broken weapons and the man with a shining silver leg. He's holding a limp body as he is charging a spell. The magic explodes and I see her face drifting over mine. Damn the gods, why are they reappearing? I was free of the dreams for over a year.'

'I don't know, but they don't seem to be good news. Maybe you have to talk to Chiron about it.'

Lou shook her head. 'I don't want to be a burden. I'll figure it out. Maybe Clovis can help.'

'Who knows,' said the male mage as he grabbed her hand. 'But you know you can always talk to me if you need to.'

Lou shot her brother a small smile as the moon shined a bit brighter.

* * *

The quill floated over the paper as it was finished with its work. The goddess folded the letter and sealed the envelop with a wax seal. Staring out of her palace window, she could see the moon's Underworld facsimile.

'I heard you had a message for me to deliver,' said a male voice from the shadows.

'I have,' she replied. 'You have the address right?'

'Being the god of Messengers and Divine Deliveries, I think I got that covered.' Hermes waved with his hand and a clipboard appeared. 'I see. You want me to deliver the welcome package too?'

'That's for later. He needs to reach camp first. His birthday has already passed.'

'And you haven't spoken to him yet? What about his father?'

The goddess turned around and faced Hermes. 'He died three years ago. I couldn't prevent it, thanks to Gaea's little uprising. I deeply cared for him and his boy.'

'Alright, he'll receive the letter first thing in the morning. I hope he's ready for it.'

'No one really is.' The goddess saw Hermes disappear and sighed. 'May the Fates be merciful.'

* * *

 **Hope you enjoyed the prologue.** **Reviews are much appreciated.**


	2. Questioning a Centaur's Identity

**Hope you enjoyed the prologue, here is the firs chapter. Reviews are much appreciated. Enjoy.**

 **Unfortunately, I still do not own PJO. The original characters belong to Rick Riordan.**

* * *

 **Chapter 1: Questioning a Centaur's Identity**

The black hound winced as Sam stomped it on the nose with his foot. Sweat was running off his back as he scrambled to his feet, picking up his backpack in the process. In the bright moonlight he could see the pine tree at the top of the hill.

'That has to be the place,' he muttered. A howl pierced through the air as he started limping up the hill. Sam turned around and saw the black furred beast eyeing him with ruby red eyes. 'Yeah, yeah, I get it, you're the apex predator and I'm just a measly prey.'

The beast growled and Sam started picking up the pace. Only a few yards left, he prayed. He heard the footsteps of the beast getting closer. Sam moved his hand to the sheath, but realized that he had lost the bronze knife in a previous encounter with the beast. He cursed. The beast leaped and pushed him against the tree. Sam clutched a branch and ignored the pines brushing against his face as the hound bounced off him.

Sam grabbed the branch as a make shift weapon. The hound growled again. Sam readied the sharp end of the branch as the beast came towards him. Panting, Sam braced for the worst as he trusted the stick forward. He heard a yelp and opened his eyes. The beast howled in pain as the branch stuck out of his left eye. As Sam backed away, passed the border, he saw the hound dissipate in a cloud of golden dust.

Sam stumbled and panted as he sat against the pine tree. A sharp pain shot from his thigh, it burned for a moment. Sam pulled on his knee until he felt the pressure disappear. As the moon ascended through the sky, Sam felt tired. The silence was broken thanks to the sound of clattering metal. It was not long before Sam found himself staring at a group of armoured people wearing helmets with blue and red plumes. They carried golden and bronze weapons.

Sam grinned. 'Is this an Ancient Greece camp or are you dressing up for an early Halloween?' One of the soldiers grunted and raised his blade. 'So, probably not the latter.'

'That's right,' spoke a female voice from the back. The group split in two as two figures approached him. One of them was a female wearing some light armour. She was a blonde with grey eyes. Eyes that were analysing him. The other one was an old man sitting in a motorised wheelchair.

'Annabeth is right,' spoke the old man. 'This is an Ancient Greek camp. You've reached it and crossed it's border.'

'Yeah,' said Sam. 'And I saw a big black dog turning into gold dust after I stabbed it with a pine branch. Man, this is the last time I eat spoilt dairy produce, it's messing with my mind.'

'Not exactly,' said Annabeth. 'It seems that you killed a hell hound. Not bad for a first timer.'

'Indeed. May I know your name? Mine's Chiron,' said the old man.

'As in Chiron, the trainer of Greek heroes? The centaur? Man, you must really like that Greek mythology stuff.'

'We do,' replied Annabeth. 'Now, how do we call you?'

'Sam Parker.' The fatigue almost swallowed him. 'I was told to come here if something happened. There was a letter.' Spots appeared in front of his eyes. 'Searched the pine tree. Strawberries.' Everything went black.

* * *

The smell of disinfectant roused him from his sleep. Sam hated the smell, it meant nothing good.

'I'm in the infirmary, right?' He opened his eyes. Sam spotted Annabeth and Chiron standing at the end of the bed. Two new faces stood on either side of the bad. The female was wearing a white tunic with a staff and snake embroidered on it. She shot him a sympathetic smile. The blond man smiled as well.

'Indeed you are,' she said. 'No major injuries, just some minor scraps, but that wound on your thigh is pretty raw.' The lady from around twenty-five had short grey hair and wore a pair of glasses.

'Sam,' said Chiron. 'What is that letter you spoke of?'

'Chiron,' chastised the man. 'Give the poor boy some time. He probably hasn't eaten for days.'

'I know, Will, but I wonder who would send a demigod to camp on his own.'

'Excuse me,' said Sam. 'First, I'm not a "poor boy", keep that Queen lyric for someone else.' Sam tried to give Will an evil look, but he only smiled. ' Second, did you just call me a demigod? Cause I'm neither.'

'That's not exactly true,' said the doctor. 'You are a demigod.'

'As in the child of a god? Like Hercules?'

The doctor nodded. 'We all are. One of our parents is a Greek deity. Mine's Asclepius, the god of medicine.'

'Seems pretty logical, since you're a medic. How do I call you? Or is Doc okay?'

'You can call me Dr. Harley.'

'Alright, Harley, Annabeth, Will and Chiron. Now, if you could get me my stuff I would like to leave now as you all seem to be crazy.'

'You have ADHD and Dyslexia in some form or another,' started Annabeth. 'You've been to a couple of different schools, have seen multiple specialists for the ADHD and or Dyslexia, and maybe you've been held back a couple of grades.'

Sam stared at her for a couple of seconds. 'How do you know?' he said softly.

'Because it's the story for the majority of the kids and staff members here,' she replied. 'Look, I know it's hard to process, but the Ancient Greek gods are very real and reside in the USA. There are two camps where kids like you get to go to during the summer.'

'This can't be,' stammered Sam. He looked at every person in the room. 'Those are all myths and stories.'

'Unfortunately, they are very real,' said Harley. 'You are the child of a god.'

'But who would it be, assuming I believe you.' He touched the raw skin of his stump. He flinched. Harley moved his hand and laid her hand on the wound. Sam yelped, but the pain subsided immediately and the wound was completely healed.

'Now,' she said with a firm tone. 'From now on, you're going to check your stump for any traces of sores every day. If you step in here again with such raw and inflamed skin, I'll have Helen scrub you real good. And she's not as kind as I am.'

'Helen?'

'You called?' said a girl from around sixteen who was wearing a spotless white tunic. She appeared from behind a curtain. She grinned as her brown eyes set eyes on Sam. 'I see that you haven't showered for three days now. Maybe I should get a new sponge.' Sam shivered as he saw her predatory eyes.

'No thank you, I'll shower.'

'The letter,' said Chiron. Helen pouted as she disappeared again. 'It may give us a clue as to whom you parent is. Normally gods are obliged to claim their children the day they turn thirteen, but that hasn't happened to you yet.'

'The letter is in my backpack. I came a couple of days after my birthday. There was also a package that came with it. The letter said to go and find Delphi Strawberry Co. The package contained a bronze knife and a pouch with a coin.' Sam pulled out every item out of his pack. 'The letter is handwritten and signed by C.R.' He handed it to Chiron.

'Where's the knife?' asked Annabeth.

'I lost it when that hound attacked me the first time. The letter said that the company would explain a lot. My parents agreed. Apparently she had heard from it. I didn't go immediately, but two days later I saw that beast and my mom and dad gave me some money and told me I'd be safe at the camp.'

'Interesting,' said Chiron. 'One of the gods has broken one of the vows made after the war. This makes you the first unclaimed demigod in about six years.'

'I have a question. If the gods are real, are you the Chiron, trainer of the heroes?'

'Who else would I be?' Chiron smiled as he transformed into a centaur.

Sam stared at him as Helen reappeared muttering something about disinfecting the floor.

* * *

Later, Annabeth and Will escorted Sam to the amphitheatre where a crowd was sitting staring a campfire. Chiron was already there, talking to a man wearing a Hawaiian shirt and sipping Diet Coke. They interrupted their conversation as Chiron saw them approaching.

Will and Annabeth left to sit with the others. Sam saw Annabeth sitting with a couple of children that resembled her in some way. She held hand with a black haired and green eyed boy who was wearing swimming shorts.

'Campers, we have a new camper,' said Chiron. 'Sam Parker, meet the campers of Camp Half-Blood, campers, meet Sam Parker.'

'Who claimed him?' asked a muscular girl with brown hair who was wielding a spear and killing look.

The man with the Diet Coke stared at Chiron for a second. 'It seems that one of my siblings forgot about our arrangement with mister Johnson. Mr. Parker is unclaimed.'

As the crowd went wild and stared talking away, Sam caught the black haired guy muttering something.

'Silence!' boomed Chiron. 'We will figure it out later.'

'Well you can scratch Ares of your list, the kid's too scrawny to be a sibling of mine,' said the spear wielding girl.

'At least I'm not looking as if I really crave my daddy's attention,' replied Sam calmly.

Dead silence rolled over the meeting. People stared at Sam in amazement.

'I like him,' said the black haired guy.

'Shut it, Jackson,' replied the girl. She thrusted the spear into the ground, visibly holding back something.

'We could have a series of tasks to narrow down the roster,' said a girl who resembled Annabeth. 'You know, tasks that only a child of said parent could accomplish. Of course, nothing lethal.' She glanced over to the Ares campers.

'I like the idea,' said Chiron. 'We start with the tests after breakfast tomorrow. For tonight, Sam will bunk with the Hermes cabin.' Chiron nodded to a group of campers.

Sam stared at the group of people who were staring at him with a mischievous glance in their eyes.

* * *

 **Hope you enjoyed the chapter. Until next time.**


	3. Lightning Can Strike Twice

**A/N: As you may have noticed, I've been uploading the chapters quite quickly after one another. That's because I've been waiting to post this story. From now on, I will be uploading pretty irregularly, to keep it at a steady pace while not neglecting other projects and schoolwork. The chapters will probably be around 1.500 - 2.000 words each, again to keep the chapters coming. Please read, review and spread the word, your input is much appreciated (so are the views). Hope you enjoy the chapter!**

 **Disclaimer: Still don't own PJO or any of the characters.**

* * *

 **Chapter 2: Lightning Does Strike Twice**

At breakfast the next morning, the unclaimed demigod was the subject of many conversations. This was also the case at the Hecate table.

'So, what do you think about the demigod?' asked John McMiller.

Lou Ellen shrugged. 'Nothing much, we've had unclaimed demigods in the past.'

'I wasn't referring to that. He reeks of magic and he has a metal limb,' replied John.

'No he hasn't,' said Lou Ellen as she pointed to the prosthetic leg that stood on the Hermes table.

Before John could answer, a curse silenced the dining pavilion. Heads turned to the new demigod who was wielding a caduceus. He hobbled to the Hermes table and dropped the wooden staff on the table before reattaching the leg. 'What never seen a demigod with a metal leg?'

'No, but we've seen one without one,' said an Ares camper. Some of his siblings joined in. Clarisse shot the camper a death glare and shot San an apologetic look.

Sam nodded as he walked over to the buffet. He picked up a bowl of cereal and a couple of toast slices. As he took a seat, Liam Ranger, the Hermes head counsellor said something to him.

'You have to sacrifice some of your food to the gods before you can eat.'

'Right, the Greek gods are real,' he muttered as he walked over the fire pit and scraped some of the bacon into the pyre. 'Guess I sacrifice this to whichever god/goddess got me here.' Sam returned to the table and ate his breakfast.

* * *

Almost half an hour later, Sam joined Chiron on his way to the first task, the Demeter cabin was awaiting him at the strawberry fields. As they walked over the hill, Sam saw the lay out of the camp.

'So does every god have a cabin here?'

'No,' replied Chiron. 'We have a cabin for almost every god that has children. We're building them as fast as we can, but since the recognition of the minor god's children, there has been a steady increase in our numbers. For those that don't have children, we build shrines.'

'That's nice.'

'It helped to alleviate the pressure on the Hermes cabin as it housed every unclaimed demigod in the past. There was almost never enough space in that cabin. It had to be torn down after the Second Giant War to be rebuilt.'

'Harsh.' Sam thought that he may have been lucky enough to sleep in a bed last night.

'It has led to some conflicts in the past.'

Sam and Chiron continued their way to the strawberry fields. Mister D, as Sam came to know Dionysius, was sipping some Diet Coke as the Demeter cabin was standing in front of the patch of land. They wore the standard orange shirt, but also wore overalls and large hats.

'To see if you're one of ours,' said Fanny, the head counsellor, 'you'll have to make this little sapling grow.' She handed him a pot which held a small plant. Sam stared at the plant and mentally told it to grow, but nothing happened. After fifteen minutes of mentally pleading, begging and threatening the plant, Sam gave up and handed the pot back to Fanny who immediately made the sapling evolve into a full grown plant.

'Guess I don't have a green thumb. Who's next?'

'Athena cabin,' said Mister D.

'Okay. Just one question. I'm not yours right? With you being faithful to Ariadne and all.'

Mister D only grunted. 'You're none of mine. The Athena cabin awaits.'

* * *

Trying to solve a puzzle for half an hour, while being scrutinized by a dozen of people who were ready to dissect him like a lab rat, wasn't that much fun for Sam, but it somehow proved that he wasn't a child of Athena. Hephaistos was out as well as Sam could barely stand the heat of the forges for about twenty minutes.

'Are you sure I'm not a sibling? The blacksmith and I have something in common,' said Sam as he taped his metal knee. 'And I really enjoyed playing with Lego and K'nex when I was younger.'

'Pretty sure,' said Leo Valdez, hyperactive head counsellor with a smile. He was fidgeting with scraps of metal.

'Alright, who's next?' Sam asked Annabeth.

'Zeus.'

[line]

Both the Zeus and Hades cabins weren't what Sam was looking for, although the Hades campers seemed to connect with him. Somewhat like distant cousins. But it could also be that Batman was one of his favourite super heroes.

Artemis and Hera were out as well thanks to pretty obvious reasons. Sam hadn't exactly considered the Aphrodite campers to be his siblings, but their pink and fluffy cabin had given him a big hint towards the NO. Both Apollo and Ares were off the list as well, thanks to the tasks that almost got someone killed, including the activities director.

Sam smiled as he managed to open the first lock on the chest. 'Seriously, you're all more surprised by the fact that I speak a bit of French and Spanish, than me having a metal limb?' The Hermes challenge consisted of Sam opening the locks, while being given misleading information and hints in various languages. The buzzer sounded and Sam dropped the second lock. 'Guess I won't be a permanent resident of the Hermes cabin.'

'If you get claimed that is,' said Liam with mischievous grin on his face.

Sam joined Annabeth to the lake where three people were waiting. All of them had black hair and Sam recognized the guy as the guy Annabeth sat next to last night. Annabeth introduced him as Percy.

'Nice to meet you,' said Sam as they shook hands. Percy smiled and looked at him with green eyes. The other two were girls of about his own age. The first one had a bun with drumsticks in it and had the same green eyes as Percy. The other one had brown eyes and looked a bit pale.

'Gina, daughter of Poseidon,' introduced the girl. 'I'm only here as part of the Sea family as I don't have any water based powers. I got the earthquake powers.' Gina grinned.

'Let me guess, you heavily play with the bass drum.'

'You're smart for an non-Athena camper. I'm Cali Mayweather, daughter of Kymopoleia.' She smiled and shook his hand. 'We're here to see if you're the latest addition to the Sea family.'

Percy and Cali jumped into the lake as Sam took off his leg and joined them. 'The task we have for you is to keep your breath under water for as long as you can.'

'Seems pretty easy. Aren't you two her aunt and uncle, since Kymopoleia is Poseidon's daughter?'

'Indeed we are,' said Percy. 'You sure you're no sibling of Annabeth?'

'Nah, I read a lot of mythology books.'

Sam took a deep breath and held his head under water as Percy and Cali did the same. He tried to relax as much as possible, while trying not to panic. Sam looked at Cali and realized her black hair made her quite intimidating in water. She had sort of a stormy aura around her.

Sam broke the surface after two minutes, gasping for air. Percy and Cali helped him out of the water and removed every ounce of water that had soaked his clothes. 'Breathing under water is really hard if you only have a pair of lungs.'

'Doofus,' joked Cali as Sam grinned and spat out the last bit of water.

[line]

After making sure Sam was okay, the group joined the others at the Big House, were they gave the bad news.

'That leaves us with the minor gods,' started Chiron.

'No offense, but can't he or she just not give me a sign? I'm pretty knackered and almost drowned,' said Sam.

'The gods don't really work that way,' said a camper.'

'For god's sake can't they make an exception?'

'Gods's sake, the Christian god is rather metaphysical.'

'At least he only had one kid and that guy got acknowledged pretty fast.' Gasps. 'Oh please, what's going to happen?'

A flash of lightning struck the nearest tree. 'Lightning doesn't strike twice?' A second flash.

'Alright, I get it. I'm sorry I said anything. Who's next?'

'We have the Iris cabin or the Hecate cabin up next. Butch, got something for us?'

A muscular guy with an Iris tattoo stepped forward, but we need a pegasus for that.'

* * *

If someone learned something that day, it would be that Sam can ride a pegasus, but can't travel as fast as it. Sam wasn't the first and wouldn't be the last to throw up after several flights at supersonic speed.

Sam had angrily rejected to be tested further and had retreated under a shadowy tree. He was watching the volleyball match between the Nike and Athena campers. Blasting music through his headphones, Sam searched his pack for the letter, but pulled out his notebook instead.

'Is that notebook yours?' asked a voice.

Sam looked up and saw the head counsellor of the Hecate cabin looking down on him. Her name was Lou something. 'Yes.' Sam removed his headphones. 'Why'd you ask?'

'It's an interesting artefact,' said Lou Ellen as she took a seat next to Sam. 'Can I see it?'

Sam handed over his notebook.

Lou Ellen flipped through it and hummed contently. 'These are some pretty decent runes and sigils.'

'The doodles I drew?'

'Magic symbols that are rather powerful,' commented Lou Ellen. As she flipped through some more pages a picture fell out. Before she could see it, Sam picked it up and put it in his pack.

'What does that mean?' asked Sam.

'That we might have a good idea who your godly parent is,' said an invisible voice.

'Annabeth, it's rude to spy on people,' said Lou Ellen as she waved her hand. A Yankees cap fell on the ground and Annabeth Chase appeared.

'Are you my guardian or what?'

'Not exactly, but you're an intriguing study object, it's not every day that we get an unclaimed, one legged demi god who insults the gods and walks away from it. There is someone looking out for you.'

'And now we have a pretty good idea of who that is,' said Lou Ellen as she gave Sam back his notebook. 'Welcome to the family.'


	4. When Different is Not Always Bad

**Chapter 3** **: When Different is Not Always Bad**

Sam was sitting in the couch of the Big House, while the Hecate cabin was discussing the matter with Chiron, Mister D and the head counsellors. For some reason there was a leopard head lying in the couch next to Sam.

'He likes to eat Cheetos,' said Cali. 'His name's Seymour.'

Sam stared at the daughter of Kymopoleia. 'This thing has a name?'

'Yes he does,' she said as she moved him to another couch. The leopard opened its eyes, but closed them again. 'He's a sacred animal of Mister D.'

'Oh, so that might explain the leopard skin shirt.'

Cali smiled. 'So, what's going to happen next?'

Sam looked at the locked door of the War Room. 'Dunno. Why aren't you in there? Aren't you the head of the Kymopoleia cabin?'

'This is major god material,' she replied as she took a seat next to Sam. 'I heard something about an ancient prophecy.'

'From the Oracle of Delphi, right? Well, the modern incarnation.'

'Correct. Rachel Dare is our current oracle. She dishes out the prophecies for our quests.'

Sam nodded as he touched his stump. The Hecate siblings had taken his leg, the pouch and letter with them. 'Guess it all fits in with the Ancient Greek thing. Campers who go out questing.'

Cali chuckled. 'Not all of us do that you know, most of us just stay at camp, practicing skills and other stuff.'

'Cool.'

Seymour the leopard yawned and Sam got startled. Cali laughed. Suddenly the door opened up and Clarisse walked out.

'Parker, we'd like to see you now.' She walked over and instructed Sam to grab her by the shoulder as she guided him towards the room.

'I'll see you later,' said Sam.

Cali nodded.

* * *

Sam took a seat while every person in the room stared at him. 'And?'

'We have strong indications that you are one of ours,' said Lou Ellen after clearing her throat. 'These symbols you've been drawing are pretty powerful sigils. These for example are used for enchanting magic.' Lou Ellen showed him a couple of interlocking circles.

'What does that mean?' asked Sam.

'It means that you have a knack for drawing magic symbols,' said Lou Ellen as she smiled which softened her stern looking features.

'Awesome.'

'Not quite,' replied a female mage with dark eyes that sent a shiver down Sam's spine. 'You've been infusing them with magic, uncontrolled magic.'

'That can be very dangerous,' said Lou Ellen with a grim look.

'What about the items?' asked a Native American girl.

'They are not magical,' said a male mage. 'Not the leg, nor the coin, the coin's a regular silver Roman coin. Same for the prosthetic leg.'

'Why do you have a Roman coin in your possession?'

'Dunno,' said Sam. 'It came with the other stuff.' He picked up the coin. 'It's a silver coin of impure silver, stamped with Caesar's image and the letters SPQR on one side and an image of Janus on the other. I guess that's because he's the two faced god and a coin has two sides.'

'Good reasoning,' said Annabeth.

'Is there going to be another test?' asked Percy.

Lou Ellen nodded. 'But it will not take that long, John if you will.'

John McMiller stepped forward and placed a stack of cards in the middle of the table. He took off seven cards and laid them in front of Sam. The stack got shuffled again and the process got repeated. Then he shuffled the fourteen cards, picked five to form a pentagram pattern on the table and handed them to Sam.

One of the Hecate siblings drew a circle around the table and motioned the others to take a step back. The others drew symbols on every compass point.

'Sam,' said Lou Ellen. 'Pick five cards from the seven cards and place them somewhere in the pattern John placed on the table. Five cards that you think ought to match. I'll give you ten minutes. Go.'

Sam looked at the cards that laid on the table and laid his seven cards open on the table. He scanned his own cards and noticed that some were black, while others were white. He sorted the cards in black and white cards. Then he took another glance at the cards and picked his cards.

He went for the opposition symmetry of black and white, but soon saw that he lacked two cards to finish off the pentagram. Sam muttered a curse.

'Five minutes remaining,' said Lou Ellen.

He closed his eyes for a moment and realized that he was sitting in a circle. Sam moved his chair and took a look at the circle and symbols that had been drawn around the table. Sam closed his eyes again and visualized both patterns. He grinned. He placed four of the cards just outside the pentagram, in line with the compass points and placed his final card dead in the centre of the pentagram.

'Are you finished? You still have two minutes left.'

'I'm done, I think.' Sam looked at the pattern he'd created. 'Yeah. It's finished.'

'Pretty impressive formation. Care to explain why you did what you did?' asked the girl that had sent a shiver down his spine. Sam noticed that she was redhead.

'Well, at first I tried to replicate the star John had placed on the table but I couldn't find the matching cards. So then I saw that you had drawn symbols on the outside of the circle on the floor and it seemed logical to me that there had to be an connection between the inner figure and the circle, so I laid the four cards there and the fifth one is in the middle because everything needs a centre point.' He looked at the Hecate siblings, they all stared at him and the formation. 'I made a mistake didn't I?'

'Nobody said that,' said John. 'We're just thinking about your reasoning. It's … different.'

'Oh.' Sam tried not to sound to disappointed.

'But different doesn't mean bad,' said Lou Ellen. 'It's just that there were other options you could have tried out.' She picked up one of the cards. The third white one that had to be black to make it symmetric. 'You could've just flipped it around to make it symmetric.' Her siblings smiled as she flipped the card and placed the five cards next to the cards that John had laid on the table.

'They're all double sided?' Sam flipped over some of the other cards.

'Yeah, but you could've also made a circle with the curved lines you see on the cards,' said Redhead as she rearranged some of the cards so that the curved lines on them made an incomplete circle.

'So magic works in different ways, just like these cards?' Sam picked up some of the cards and made a pentagram shaped figure by grouping cards together so that they overlapped.

'And he figures out the basic rule of magic,' said John with a laugh.

A bright light appeared in the room. Sam closed his eyes. 'Like you figured it out the first time you played with the cards, John Francis McMiller,' said a voice.

Sam opened his eyes and saw that a pale looking woman had appeared. Her golden hair was braided and she wore a white gown with silver and black symbols on them. She stared at John with a raised eyebrow. Sam thought that she was rather stern-looking.

'I apologize, mother,' said John as he stared at his feet.

'O, come here you.' She grabbed the broad shouldered mage in her arms and hugged him tightly. She gave each of her children a warm hug as she named them all. Sam learned that the other siblings were called Suzan, Ronan, Jade and Mia. When she released Lou Ellen from her grasp she turned to Sam and smiled. Her green eyes scanned him. 'Sam Parker.'

'Hecate,' replied Sam. 'Or is it Trivia?'

'There is only Hecate, my son.' The moment she spoke the words a black with blazing torches symbol appeared over his head and shimmered away.

'Mother,' said Sam as if it was a strange word. 'You're my mother, my divine mother.'

'Yes, and you are Sam Parker, the son of the late Paul Winters, adoptive son of Anne and Ryan Parker, adoptive brother to Sarah Parker. And you are my seventh child to currently reside in cabin 20.' She smiled even broader. 'It seems that you have inherited you father's brown locks of hair, but my green eyes. Unfortunately so far only Suzan has inherited my black eyes.'

'C.R, C. Roads, crossroads,' muttered Chiron. 'I should've known that.'

'Do not punish yourself too hard,' said Hecate. 'One cannot know everything.'

'Why now?' asked Sam. 'Why not earlier?'

The goddess looked at her youngest child. She stared into his green eyes. 'Sam…'

'You're the goddess of possibilities, there is even mention of possible future views. Could you have stopped it, prevented it?' Sam clenched his hands into fists.

The goddess exchanged glances with her eldest child.

'Maybe we ought to give them some privacy,' said Chiron. 'Everybody out.' Hecate nodded gratefully.

The two stared at each other until everyone but Lou Ellen had left the room.

'Lou.'

'I'm staying, he's my responsibility at this camp.'

Hecate sighed and motioned her to take a seat. She picked up the notebook and looked at several of the pages. 'To answer your question, no I could not have prevented it. The Fates have the ultimate power over that.'

Sam unclenched his fists. 'Did you love him?'

'Yes, I did. I couldn't save him, so I chose to save you. The letter you received.'

'That was you?' asked Lou Ellen.

Hecate nodded. 'Your adoptive parents are legacies themselves and I might have dropped some hints.'

Sam looked at her with amazement. So, this lady had been pulling the strings of his life for the past three years.

'You seem to have a penchant for enchantments,' said the goddess. 'These are pretty good sigils, but the power is rather raw.'

'We noticed,' said Lou Ellen. 'We'll work on that.'

'Work on what?'

'You mastering the use of magic,' said Lou Ellen. 'All of mother's children have to learn how to use magic. I and our siblings will be doing the training.'

'I want you to help him if he has any questions or problems. We can't have a mage using magic in a wrong way. I expect you to help each other.'

'Yes mother,' said Lou Ellen while rolling her eyes. Sam chuckled.

'I saw that young lady,' said Hecate. 'And you,' she said as she turned to Sam. 'I heard that you've been going around getting on the Council's bad side. You better not repeat it too often, is that understood?'

Sam nodded.

'I asked, is that understood?' The goddess looked at him with pitch black eyes.

'Yes, mother,' said Sam nervously.

'Good, then I shall depart. Sam, you'll be sleeping in cabin 20 from now on. Lou Ellen, see to it that he gets everything he needs.'

'Yes mother,' she replied.

'Lou,' said Hecate warningly. She hugged her daughter and son. Sam got his hug last. Then she departed, leaving nothing but a neatly stack deck of cards and Sam wearing his prosthetic leg.

'That's creepy,' said Sam as he touched his leg.

'She does that every time she comes to visit. Well, let's get you settled into cabin 20, little brother.

* * *

 **Hope you liked it. Please review and spread the word! Thanks. Until next time.**


	5. Metal Doesn't Float

**A/N: Chapter 4 is here. Hope you enjoy it. Could use some help on how to develop it further. I've got a couple of ideas, but could use some more. Please review!**

* * *

 **Chapter 4: Metal Doesn't Float**

He followed his new-found siblings to the part of the camp that housed the cabins. He chatted with his brothers as the girls marched in front of them. He noticed that each of them was wearing a cloak with a different symbol on the back.

'Our personal sigils,' said John. 'It'll be your first assignment as a mage.'

Sam nodded as the mage shot him a smile.

As they arrived at cabin twenty, the six mages formed a semi-circle around him. Lou Ellen stepped forward.

'You may have noticed that each cabin has its own unique style, which usually reflects the parent of the residents. The golden ones are Zeus and Hera. The blue and black are Poseidon and Hades,' said Lou Ellen. 'You should be able to recognize the others.'

'The small factory is Hephaestus, the one that looks like a hut amidst a battle field has to be Ares,' said Sam. 'But who's are those?' He pointed to the second row of the omega base.

'Those are all minor gods, such as Kymopoleia's cabin, Eyno's and several cabins that have been built for the future,' said Mia, the fourteen year-old with short black hair and blue eyes. 'The cabins that make up the big loop of the omega are for the Council gods.'

Sam nodded as he added the latest piece of information to his knowledge of the world of Greek demigods. 'Seems kind of pretentious.'

The others looked at him and John sighed. 'One of these days, one of the gods is going to hand you your tongue on a silver plate.' Sam shrugged.

'Our own cabin also reflects mom,' said Lou Ellen. Sam stared at the stone structure. The stones were square shaped, light coloured and engraved with magic symbols. The door was black and had an brass knocker. The roof was made of red shingles and had a small chimney. In front of the door laid a brown box. 'The stones are not to touch the ground whatsoever, as they might explode or turn everyone in trees within a certain radius.'

'Badass,' said Sam. 'Does it come with its own defensive spells?' Sam walked up to the porch and picked up the box. It was addressed to him as his name stood beneath the Hermes-Express logo. The address of the cabin was also added. 'Thanks mom. Wonder what she got me.'

'The welcome package,' replied Mia dryly as the Hecate-siblings entered the cabin. 'And yes, this cabin has certain defence mechanisms.'

Sam nearly dropped the package as he saw the interior of the cabin. He expected a couple of bunk beds, but this trumped it by far.

The floor was purely polished hardwood, while the interior was decorated with wood and stone. The room they were standing in held a couple of couches and a lit fire place and three oak bookcases filled with books on one side and a large dining table in the middle. At the back Sam spotted a door, but on each side of the entrance room there were stair leading up to the second floor. The second floor overlooked the main room.

Sam deposited the box and walked back outside. He left the door open, so his siblings joined him grinning. He stared at the roof and side of the cabin and walked back in. he went out again. 'How is that … the size of the cabin doesn't add up to the … Are you messing with me? Like that I'll wake up in a little shack with crummy beds?'

'No trickery,' said Jade. 'Magic.'

Sam took another stroll around the cabin. Lou Ellen grumbled as she handed John a gold coin. 'Not even a minute.'

John only chuckled as he grabbed Lou Ellen by the shoulder. 'We even went out faster.'

'Yeah, but that didn't cost me money.' Lou Ellen dragged Sam back inside.

'This is the main room/living/ dining room. In the back you'll find the kitchen,' said Lou Ellen. 'Upstairs are the rooms and library and exercise room.'

'Rooms?'

'Don't go bragging about to too many people, but yes. We've all got a room with bathroom to ourselves. You can decorate it anyway you like. Boys on the right, girls on the left. Library and exercise room are at the back as well,' Jade explained.

'That sure beats my bunk at the Hermes cabin.'

The siblings took their seats in the sofas and chairs. Sam opened the box with Suzan's knife. It contained two pouches, one leather and a small cloth one; a stack of fresh notebooks, a piece of clothing and some things that Sam hadn't expected. His pillow from home and a binder that looked like his binder with the summer math work he was to do.

'That's unexpected,' he said sticking the pillow behind his head.

'Mom works in mysterious ways,' said John. 'The cloth pouch contains ten drachma's, your starting capital, we get five drachma's per week as allowance. We'll get to that later. The leather one is a magic pouch that can contain anything except weapons. We haven't figured out why and mom refuses to answer the question.'

'The notebooks are yours to use, if you run out, you can get more,' said Lou Ellen. 'That piece of clothing is your personal cloak. We mostly wear those when we are doing magical rituals, as we are supposed to wear armour during the Capture The Flag games and when on patrol.'

'Got it,' said Sam. He tried it on. It fit perfectly. It reminded him of his favourite hoodie he had lost during his journey to Camp Half Blood. Suddenly the cloak changed in a hoodie. 'Sweet.'

'Any other questions before we head back out for dinner?'

'John told me about the personal sigil. What's that about?'

'The ability to use magic is considered an art and every artist needs a signature to sign his work,' said John. 'And it's also a sigil that is used to store magical energy that can be used later or as a form of enchantment.'

'How do I get one?' asked Sam.

'By studying the basics of magic. Once you've mastered those, you'll have the privilege to wear a sigil,' said Lou Ellen. 'After that we'll train you in the use of the Mist.'

'Mist, we can control mist?'

'The Mist,' emphasised Mia,' is the veil that keeps mortals from seeing our world. Some mortals can see through it though, like the Oracle. We learn how to control it, and if used properly, you can even fool demigods and monsters with it.'

'Cool,' said Sam. 'What's that?' He pointed to the black board that covered a large part of the wall between the two book cases.

'That my brother, is Cabin 20's Score Board,' said Lou Ellen with a wicked smile while Mia, Suzan and Ronan groaned. She waved her hand a piece of chalk floated in front of her. 'Everyone in cabin 20 has his or her name on it. It keeps tabs on several things: bad and good grades in camp subjects, bad behaviour, points for Capture the Flag, breaking house rules and using fictional references to magic. If you have a certain amount of points at the end of each week, you get more drachma's for that week's allowance. Get a lower score, you get less.'

'So it wouldn't be the best idea to refer to the fact that I am a son of Hecate as my personal "You're a wizard, Sam." moment?' A piece of chalk floated to the board and made a first mark next to Sam's name. He grumbled. 'What's with the drachma's?'

'It's the Greek currency. We use it on quests if needed. Mostly we use it at camp. At the shop, library or other facilities that come at a price. When visiting New Rome, you can get them exchanged for denarii.'

'That's the Roman Camp right?' They nodded. 'What are the Capture The Flag games like? And when are they being held?'

'Every Friday night, so in five days. And they're pretty rough.'

'Meh, it's mostly Council gods versus the minor gods with the occasional help of Poseidon and another Council god,' said Suzan. 'Council gods win most of the time as the older demi gods don't always participate. We do get to be on the same losing team when the Hunters of Artemis come to visit. They always win.'

'Sounds like fun,' said Sam with a nervous smile. 'But what's with the camp subjects? We're not here to go to school right? I already have summer school stuff to do.' Sam lifted the binder.

'Man, do I love those new blissfully ignorant demigods,' said John with a chuckle.

* * *

Sam grumbled as he slammed down his plate of pork roast and potatoes. 'Fun camp my arse.' He sat beside John at the table. 'Grades? That's lame.'

'Ah don't sweat it,' said John. 'It's basically Mythology Class, Ancient Greek and PE. And we get magic class as well.'

'PE isn't my strong suit,' said Sam with a mouth full of pork. 'I mostly got to be the goalie when we played hockey at school.'

'So you're a hockey player?' asked Mia. 'Tried it once, but I enjoy basketball more.'

'Used to play a lot before … the incident.' Sam took a gulp of peach juice. 'Wasn't the greatest player, but I could handle myself on the pitch.'

'We don't play hockey here, but we do get to go climbing, do some archery, magic, sword fighting or any weapon's training. Beats maths,' said Ronan as he shrugged.

Sam shrugged as well. Before he could take another bite Lou Ellen and Annabeth approached the table. Annabeth was holding a folded piece of paper.

'Hi Sam,' said the daughter of Athena. 'I have your activities schedule here, and there was something we wanted to discuss with you.'

'Sure, now?'

'If your done eating,' said Lou Ellen.

'Yeah, I'm done. John, save me a dessert would you?'

'Can't make any promises, but I'll try.'

Sam readjusted the cords of his hoodie and followed the two counsellors out of the dining pavilion. 'So, what do you want to discuss?' They took a seat at one of the picnic tables.

'As you know, several activities that go on at this camp are physically demanding,' started Annabeth. 'Sword fighting and rock wall climbing, archery.' She glanced over to Lou Ellen.

'What Annabeth is trying to say is that we are a bit worried about…'

'The lump of metal attached to my thigh,' replied Sam. He stared his half-sister in the eyes.

'It's not that, it's… I just don't want to see you getting hurt if something happens,' said Lou Ellen.

'Well if I don't try out things, then nothing will be able to happen won't it? If you'd like, I can stay in bed for the rest of the summer.' Sam stood up and glared at Lou Ellen and Annabeth. 'It's always the same bullshit everywhere I go.'

'Sam,' tried Lou Ellen.

'Don't. I'm going to bed.' Sam dashed off and didn't look back.

'Man, this sucks,' sighed Lou Ellen.

'He'll understand soon enough,' said Annabeth as she gave Lou Ellen the folded piece of paper.

* * *

He could hear her walking up the stairs. The floorboard croaked as she stopped in front of his door. Sam stared at the grey ceiling. He hadn't figured out if he would have it painted or not. Same for the walls. He heard Lou Ellen sighing in front of the door, Sam guessed she was waiting. He turned his back to the door and stared at the wall. After a couple of seconds she gently pushed the door open.

'I'll just leave your schedule on the cupboard,' she said softly. 'You have to be at the Lyceum by ten for mythology class. Breakfast starts at eight. Cabin inspections start at nine, so don't forget to make up your bed.'

Sam balled his hand into a fist. He exhaled softly. He could feel her green eyes staring at him. She left and closed the door before going back down. Sam sighed and buried his face into his own pillow.

* * *

 **Hope you enjoyed it. Please review :)**


	6. A Sword Called Larry

**A/N:** **Hope you enjoy this chapter.**

 **I don't own PJO, Rick Riordan does.**

* * *

 **Chapter 5: A Sword Called Larry**

Sam speed walked over camp grounds, as he was already late for Mythology Class with Annabeth. That morning he had eaten his breakfast pretty early and had wandered off as Lou Ellen had tried to reach out to him again.

He arrived at the Lyceum. According to Ronan the building had been a late addition to the camp as it was the first step to create a New Athens of some sorts on the Camp grounds. The camp shop had already received a make-over.

Sam walked into the building. The thing had only a single room that reminded him a bit of the amphitheatre, but smaller and indoors with air-conditioning. He saw that Annabeth had already started her class. He cursed and quickly took a seat in the back.

'Morning, Sam, glad you could make it to class,' Annabeth said with a grin. Her stormy eyes shot him a look that said to not try that again. 'Since you missed the first part of my lecture, maybe you can tell me what the first Titanomachy was?'

Sam stared at Annabeth. 'Titanomachy?' he whispered to himself.

'Titan uprising,' whispered the boy next to him. The guy was about his age and wore an oil stained shirt with cargo pants.

'Right, the first titan uprising started with Kronos killing his father, Uranus, with his own scythe. And took over the power with the help Gaea, his mommy.' Some people snickered. 'He imprisoned some people. I thought that Aphrodite was also born from that, just as the Giants.'

'That is correct, anymore?'

'He got a prophecy that his own children would kill him. So when the Gods were born, he ate them all except Zeus, who Rhea had rescued. Zeus became a man and killed Kronos and rescued his siblings. And because of this, Old Lightning thinks he's the greatest king that ever lived. The titans were sent to Tartarus and all was well.'

'Not bad, could use a bit more detail, but it'll do,' said Annabeth.

Sam turned to the guy next to him. 'Thanks for saving my butt. I'm Sam Parker.'

'Yeah the new Hecate-camper, I'm George Frobisher, son of Hephaistos.'

'Nice to meet you.'

'Likewise.'

'Gentlemen,' said Annabeth. 'You are supposed to pay attention in class. Should I inform your counsellors of the problem or shall you be quiet?'

'I'll be quiet,' said Sam.

'Ditto,' said George.

Annabeth turned back to the blackboard and the boys shot each other a grin.

'What happened during the second Titanomachy?' asked a Nike camper. 'Since you said first and not the.'

'Who can recite me the first Great prophecy?' asked Annabeth. She nodded to a Athena camper.

'A half-blood of the eldest gods/Shall reach sixteen against all odds/And see the world in endless sleep/The hero's soul, cursed blade shall reap/A single choice shall end his days/Olympus to preserve or raze.'

'Completely correct,' smiled Annabeth. 'The First Great prophecy was an ancient recitation that preluded the Second Olympian War. The War was fought between the Olympian gods and Kronos, wo had sought to return.'

'He obviously failed,' said Sam. 'Since Percy is alive.'

'Your pretty observant aren't you? Percy is indeed the half blood. But there were other contenders.'

Sam noticed that Annabeth's face became rather sad.

'Thalia Grace is the daughter of Zeus and was considered to be the demigod, but she joined the Hunters to evade the prophecy. But there was more than that, during the four years that the war lasted. Many demigods were involved in it. Kronos had promised his allies wealth and respect.'

Sam could've sworn he'd seen a tear forming in her eye.

'I lost good friends during that war. Kronos was the one behind it all as he tried to exact his vengeance on the gods by preying on the demigods who felt betrayed by their godly parents. He turned most of those demigods on their own kind. Most of them were unclaimed demigods, whose parents never bothered claiming them.

Quite a few minor gods joined the ranks of Kronos thanks to the fact that the Council gods never respected them that much.' A faint thunderclap could be heard. Annabeth smiled faintly. 'As such a lot of their children joined Kronos' army to fight for what they believed to be a good thing.'

'Who were those gods?' asked a new Apollo camper.

'Nike, Morpheus, Janus, Hecate and others. After the war, they all got cabins at camp and more respect from the elder gods. Percy made all gods claim their children by the age of thirteen, but there has been a recent hiccup with that.' She shot him a look. Sam cringed as everybody stared at him. 'It is known that Hecate lost more children during this war than any other god. One of her children was even exiled from camp. ' Annabeth looked at Sam. He stared at her in disbelief. 'But let's continue with something else. What can you tell me about the birth of Hermes?'

Annabeth didn't react to the fact that Sam Parker left her class without any warning.

* * *

Sam cursed his tongue as he walked towards the cabin. He found a note pinned to the door. It was a grade for the cabin inspection. They had passed, so no extra chores for them. He tore the note off the door and entered the cabin.

'Lou, you here?' he asked an empty living room.

'Lou's down at the stables,' said John coming from the kitchen. 'Anything I can help with?'

'Not really, it's just. We learned about the Second Olympian War today and I might've acted as an ass earlier.' Sam sighed as he deposited the note on the table. John smiled as he sat down and looked his younger brother in the eyes.

'Lou got all protective and you lashed out,' he said.

Sam nodded.

'Go talk to her, and don't beat yourself up, she understands.'

* * *

'You're supposed to be in class,' said Lou. 'And don't come up with a lie, Annabeth keeps tabs on her students.' She stared him in the eyes as she brushed a pegasus. 'Grab a brush.'

Sam carefully continued into the box. He picked up a brush and gently stared brushing the horse-like animal. 'Annabeth told us about the Second Titan War and she mentioned mom.'

'Brush harder, she can take it. So, you've heard about the war and what we did.'

Sam nodded.

'It's true that mom lost a lot of children, we were twenty. The only ones that made it out alive were Alabaster, John, Suzan and myself. She had Alabaster exiled from camp in order to keep him alive. You following?'

Sam nodded again as he brushed some more. The pegasus neighed.

'Since that day she has been fiercely protective of us. How much I like our mother, her overprotectiveness can be quite suffocating at times.

'How come?'

'She doesn't exactly approve of us going on quests. We get spoiled by her if you compare how we live in cabin 20 to others. But the worst she has done is to oppose me and John getting degrees in New Rome. Ever since the war with Gaea, they have opened up their universities for Greeks. Of course she opposed at first, even Chiron couldn't persuade her. "It's too dangerous, maybe some Roman kid'll stab you like they did Caesar.",' she said in a mocking version of their mother. 'I eventually went, but had to come back here every vacation so that she would be less worried.'

'You have a degree? In what? Stage magic?' He shot his elder sister a grin.

She gave him a deathly glare. 'I have that too, but no. It's chemistry. It sort of fitted with my natural knack for transformational magic and alchemy.'

'You know alchemy? That's so cool.' They left the pegasus alone and walked outside.

'I'll teach you the basics if you'd like. But you have some other things to study first. As a matter of fact, we start tonight. And from now on, you're going to class and you better not miss anymore.'

'Yes, mother,' he replied with a grin. Sam dashed off.

'Oh you little…' Lou Ellen chased him, caught him after three seconds and gave him a noogie until he pleaded for mercy.

* * *

Later that day Sam stood beside George and Cali in the arena watching Percy and Clarisse fighting with swords. Sam had heard stories about them both, and decided that he would rather have them on his side if they had to fight. They clashed and Percy blocked Clarisse's blow. Percy retaliated by disarming the daughter of Ares. She surrendered with a grin.

'You trained, didn't you?' Percy asked Clarisse.

'You're the master swordsman of camp, but I'll beat you one day,' she replied before drinking from a bottle of water.

Percy shook his head and turned to the demigods. 'Alright class, welcome to sword fighting for beginners. I'm Percy and I'll be teaching today. Today we'll see if you can handle a sword and some of the basic moves. For those who do not have any personal weapon, you can come and get a practice weapon.'

Sam got himself a bronze sword which was about a foot in length. He returned to his spot. He introduced George to Cali and likewise. They shook hands.

'How's camp life?' said Cali.

'Pretty rough, I mean. Getting up at seven? That's hard.'

Cali laughed. 'You'll get used to it soon enough. By the looks of it we've been put in the same sword fighting class.' She held up a silver and bronze sword with a slight curved blade. Its name was written on the blade in Ancient Greek: _Sternbane._

'That one fine blade,' said George. 'Reinforced Celestial Bronze with a smidgen of silver. Made by a master blacksmith from Poseidon's forges.'

'That name sounds harsh, poor sterns.'

'That's what you get for being a daughter of a storm goddess. Are you going to name yours?'

Sam looked at Cali and George and back to his blade. 'Larry, this thing screams Larry.' Cali chuckled, while George shook his head.

'You're a real doofus, Sam Parker.'

After Percy made sure everyone had a weapon, he started with his lesson. He showed them the basic attack and defence moves before pairing them off. Cali and Sam decided to partner up for the remainder of the course.

* * *

After Cali attacked first, Sam stumbled backward as he put full his bodyweight on the prosthetic leg when blocking. He regained his balance and swung Larry at Cali who simply blocked with Sternbane. She retaliated by disengaging and swinging her blade at Sam's chest. Sam narrowly dodged as he fell down in the sand of the arena.

'Damnit,' he cursed as Cali helped him back in his feet.

Some of the other campers had noticed Sam falling, as some of them snickered. Cali threw them a glare which shut them up.

Percy strolled over and commanded the others to continue with their exercises. 'What happened?'

'I fell down when Cali attacked. I lost my balance,' said Sam. He twirled Larry in his hand.

'Alright, let's try that again,' he said. 'Attack me.' Percy uncapped the pen and it grew to his personal blade, Riptide. Percy waved Sam over with his blade.

Sam lounged a strike at the Son of Poseidon. Percy simply deflected the blow. Sam growled as he tried again. Percy only stepped aside and deflected the blow once again. Sam huffed as he swung his weapon at Percy. Percy blocked the blow and took a step back to force Sam to advance.

'Come on, Parker. Don't you want to at least try to attack me?' Percy goaded.

Sam retaliated by swinging his right arm towards Percy, and moving his left leg forward. Percy blocked the blow. The sound of the clash was followed by dead silence. Percy flinched for a second, but quickly disarmed Sam. Larry fell into the sand.

'I yield,' said Sam falling on his butt panting.

Percy smiled as he got Sam back to his feet. He pushed Sam to Cali as the two demigods took a seat. He picked up Sam's practice blade.

'So what's the verdict? I suck at sword fighting?'

'Not exactly, but I have my doubts if you could really master the weapon.' Percy looked the young demigod in the eyes. 'Your leg puts you at the disadvantage agility wise, which is potentially deadly in a real fight with other warriors or monsters. But that last attack was strong. So it's my opinion you should try out for some other weapon, something that could seriously benefit from your upper body strength.'

'Like what? A hammer?'

'Or axe,' replied Cali.

Percy nodded. 'Why don't you visit the armoury with Cali and one of the smiths and see if you can find something you like? I'll go talk with some people who might be able to help.' Percy handed Sam the sword.

'Why?'

'You named it, you keep it,' he replied with a smile.

* * *

Half an hour later, the three demigods were standing before the armoury to find it locked. George cursed.

'I was supposed to have the afternoon shift for the armoury, I'll go get the key. Be back in five.' George disappeared.

'So, how's it like having a cabin all to yourself?' asked Sam as they took a seat in the shade.

'Not bad, I feel like the queen of castle, but as a granddaughter of Poseidon I sometimes get to crash in his cabin. When Annabeth and Percy aren't snogging that is.'

Sam laughed. 'Yeah, that would be awkward.'

'Sure is,' said Cali.

The two demigods fell into silence. A cool breeze rustled the leaves of the trees.

'So, how was mythology class?'

'Not bad, learned about my heritage as the son of a goddess who lost almost all her children during the war.'

'My mother sort of wanted Percy dead during the second Giant War,' replied Cali.

'They don't have a lot of first wars here, do they?'

Cali chuckled as George reappeared with a set of keys.

'So what brings you to the armoury, weapons or armour?' George asked as they stepped inside. The room wasn't that big but it featured a couple of mannequins wearing different types of body armour: leather, bronze golden, even a black one. On the other side of the room stood boxes and barrels filled with metal weapons: knives, swords and other sharp weapons.

'Weapons,' said Sam. 'Something that would benefit from upper body strength.'

'Aha, that's narrows it down quite a bit.' George walked over to a work bench and pressed some keys on a computer keyboard that wasn't attached to anything in particular.

Suddenly the walls started shifting. The mannequins disappeared underground, while the barrels and boxes disappeared in a turning wall. The walls reappeared bearing neatly organized racks filled with weapons. Sam recognized battle hammers, single and double bladed battle axes, spiked maces and a couple of claymores. Even some heavy weight ballistic weapons such as a mini gun.

'Impressive,' said Cali as she touched a couple of brass knuckles.

'You can thank Cabin 9 for that,' said George. 'Leo and the others designed the rotation system and we forged most of these weapons ourselves. So what will it be? Axe or hammer?'

'Why'd you think that?'

'I have a knack for that, Ares isn't the only one who knows a thing or two about weapons,' shrugged George. 'Cali prefers a sword created by cyclops, like most of Poseidon's offspring. Ares kids don't really care as long as it hurts the person on the receiving end. Apollo campers rather use bows and ballistic weapons. Hermes go for lightweight concealable stabbing weapons.'

'Again, impressive,' said Cali as she unsheathed Sternbane to take another look at it.

Sam ditched the hammers and walked over to the rack filled with axes. He ran his fingers across several of them. When he touched the final two ones he got a feeling at the back of his neck. He picked them of the rack. The weight didn't bother him that much. They were not that big, so easily moveable in small spaces.

'These two.'

George walked over and looked at the two smaller axes with a curious look. 'These aren't the ideal blades. They're cracked. But if they were to be mended, they would fit you nicely, I think. Complete celestial bronze, blackened with a pinch of pure coal. Not too heavy, nor to too light. Square heads. Are you sure you want these?'

'Definitely.'

'Alright, I'll assign those to you. What are you going to do with that practice sword?'

'Well you said that these needed mending. Could you use the metal from the sword to do that?'

'Aww, Sam doesn't want to part with Larry,' said Cali. Sam huffed. George laughed.

Sure, I can use Larry to mend the axes.'

'Cool. Thanks.' Sam handed Larry to George.

'It'll take about a day or two. I'll bring them over to your cabin.'

The three demigods left the armoury and said their goodbyes. Sam couldn't wait to have his hands on his pair of axes and try them out.


	7. Ordinary Heritage

**A/N: Chapter 6! It's different from the first time. Read and enjoy. Reviews and tips/hints on how to improve the story are most welcome.**

 **Still don't own PJO.**

* * *

 **Chapter 6: Ordinary Heritage**

Lou looked at her younger brother who was sitting in the middle of the exercise room. He had his eyes closed as he was trying to pick up the magical energy that surrounded them.

'I'm still not feeling anything,' he said with a sigh. Sam took off his cloak. Beads of sweat formed on his forehead.

'That's not good,' said Lou Ellen. 'I've been releasing magical energy ever since you set foot in the room. She helped Sam back on his feet.

'Shit,' he cursed. 'Is there anything else we can try?'

'Not really.' She stared him straight in the eyes. He seemed sad. 'But I'll ask mom tonight, she might know.'

'Is there anything else I can work on in the mean time? I don't want to lose too much time.'

Lou chuckled as she closed the door. 'It's nice that you want to work, but why don't you take the evening off? And don't give me the ADHD excuse, I've heard it before. Go skip some rocks in the lake if you have too much energy.'

Sam pouted and huffed as he walked down the stairs. He left the cabin.

'This is really bad isn't it,' said John.

'Extremely,' replied Lou Ellen. 'He can't sense the energy he's radiating. For Gods's sake John, he could overpower us if he learned to control it. Even Houdini wasn't this powerful and he got out of the Underworld untouched.'

'Yeah, and you'd know everything about that would you.' John smiled. 'You think he'd be able to overpower Hazel?'

'I definitely hope so.'

John rolled with his eyes as Lou Ellen gripped the railing.

* * *

Sam walked to the lake. To his surprise he found it quite restless. In the middle of the lake floated a raft which held a drum kit that was being played. Waves coming from the raft crashed into the shores. A figure in a white dress stood on the shores with her hands extended. It seemed she tried to control the waves. Sam approached her.

'Hi Sam, how was training?'

'It sucked,' he replied. 'Apparently I can't figure out how magic works.'

Cali dropped her arms and gave him a hug. Sam broke free and picked up some stones to skip.

'I'm sorry to hear that. When Lou and John do it, it seems pretty simple.'

Sam shrugged as he threw the first stone. 'Is that Gina who's playing?'

Cali nodded as she made the second rock skip further. 'She can't exactly control her quake powers yet, so she gets to drum in the middle of the lake. And it helps me too as I get to control the waves she produces.'

'That would be awesome powers. You could prank a lot of people with those aquatic powers.'

'Who says I don't do that?'

'You're too kind to prank people.'

He hadn't even completely finished the sentence before water splashed in his face. He turned to Cali who was grinning. 'Okay, scratch that.'

'Oy, Cali I'm done for tonight!' yelled Gina.

Cali moved her arms as if she was pulling on a rope. Slowly the raft and drum kit moved towards the shore. When it had reached the small pier, Gina stepped off and threw a sheet of black cloth over the kit. Suddenly there was nothing but a small pouch lying on the raft. She attached the pouch to her belt. Her sticks pierced the bun on her head.

'Nice,' muttered Sam.

'John made that for me. Cost me a couple of drachma's. Not cheap, but it saves me from hauling the thing to the cabin.'

That song you were playing, was that Going in Blind?'

'You have quite the ear,' replied Gina with a grin. 'It was indeed. You a P.O.D-fan?'

'Among others. I take anything with a heavier drumbeat and guitars.'

'My kind of demigod. You playing this Friday?'

'Lou's forcing me to play. I hope my axes are ready by then. Who are captain's again?'

'Like always, Athena and Ares. Poseidon will join Athena and almost all minor gods as well. Except the medics, they get to be referees. But they mostly help out our side. Apollo joins the other team.'

'Helen on our team? Better take a shower before playing.'

'And get showered asap afterwards. She'll hunt you if you remain dirty.'

The three demigods chuckled as they walked back to camp.

* * *

Thursday evening Sam was just finishing his dinner at the Hecate table as George walked in carrying a bundle of cloth.

'Your order, dear sir,' said George while bowing slightly. He placed the bundle on the table.

'Why thank you dear fellow,' replied Sam while removing an invisible hat.

'Cut the posh English and show me the goods,' said John pointing a spoon at the bundle.

George grinned as untied the string and unfolded the cloth to reveal a double-bladed battle axe. The blades seemed to be absorbing the light that surrounded them. The handle was about a foot in length and the grip was covered in dark grey material. The pommel was a bronze knob.

'Made to your own specifications. The grip is somewhat roughed up to give you better grip, but I would recommend reinforced gloves whilst in combat,' said George.

'Can you make those?' asked Sam.

George shook his head. 'Not my field of expertise, but I can ask around the cabin. Might cost you something though.'

'Fair enough.'

'That's one fine weapon,' said Lou Ellen as she arrived at the table with a dessert. 'Not the usual weapon that we mages use, but an interesting choice.'

'What's with everybody finding things interesting about me? Annabeth still looks at me as if she wants to dissect me.'

'Late to being claimed, demigod with a single leg, can't use magic as a son of Hecate and you give the gods lip, sounds interesting to me,' replied Lou Ellen. She smiled as she spooned the pudding to her mouth.

'Jeez Lou, why don't you yell it out for everyone to know? I'm sure they haven't heard you in Greece yet.' Sam picked up his new weapon. The weight felt good in his hands. He grinned.

'You seem oddly happy with that,' said John. 'You hiding something?'

'It's just your ordinary battle axe,' said George. 'Good for upper body strength and less agility.'

John shrugged. 'Fine.'

Sam and George walked out of the pavilion and strolled over to cabin 20. Sam used the brass knocker twice before unlocking the door.

'It's to deactivate the defensive spells,' he lied. The double knock on the door changed the interior of the cabin to a more regular cabin. As the two friends walked in, they were treated to a small entrance hall. They went to the door on the right side. 'Boys on the right, girls on the left.' The second chamber was a room with four beds with a closet and nightstand beside each one. Sam dropped his axe on the second bed on the left side of the room.

'Nice room,' commented George.

'It isn't that bad. John snores though. Thankfully Lou uses a charm for that.'

'What do you want to do till the campfire? We've got about an hour to kill.'.

'What about the archery range? Could use some practice with a bow. Or we could go to the beach.'

'Let's flip a coin,' said George.

Sam opened the drawer on his nightstand and picked up the pouch that held the Roman coin. 'My lucky piece of silver. Caesar we go to the archery range, Janus we go the beach.'

'Come on Janus, I wanna see the sea. Maybe Poseidon's doing some fishing.'

Sam flipped the coin. The silver reflected the light several times. It seemed to glow slightly. It hit the floor hard. It fell on Janus. 'The beach it is.'

Sam picked up the coin and put it back in the pouch and the nightstand before grabbing his hoodie and zipping it up. The two friends left the room and walked to the front door. George was the first to exit, Sam followed. There was a light and George was left standing on the front porch of the Hecate cabin with no Sam in sight.

'Sam?' he asked no one in particular.

* * *

Sam blinked. He was staring at the beach and the ocean. The sound of crashing waves reached his ears as he felt a bit queasy. He gripped the wooden frame that stood there. It was the arch like structure that was placed at the end of the path that led to the beach. He breathed in and out until the queasiness disappeared. Sam remembered the front door and the light.

'Regular coin my ass.'


	8. No News is Good News

**New chapter, new developments :D Happy reading. Please review.**

* * *

 **Chapter 7 No News is Good News**

Sam stared at the archway and put his hand through it. Nothing. No disappearing hand. Nada. The sound of crashing waves was oddly calming.

'You really are an interesting demigod,' said a male voice. 'Not everyone dares to bad mouth my brother.'

Sam turned around. He saw a man sitting on a stool wielding a fishing rod. The man had a black hair, beard and green eyes. The man looked like an old fisherman. He resembled Gina and Percy.

'Poseidon, god of the Sea, Quakes and Horses,' Sam muttered.

'Not all of my titles, but they do cover the main points, Sam Parker, son of Hecate.' The god invited Sam to take a seat next to him.

Sam shuffled over, cursing the sand that seeped into his shoes. 'What are you doing here? Don't the gods have to remain clear of demigods?'

'Yes, but I enjoy my trips to this place, especially if I get to see you.' Poseidon pointed his scarred finger to Sam's chest. 'The Lord of the Sky is not really happy letting the demigod who mocks him live.'

'Jeez, he's a bit touchy isn't he? I barely said anything.'

Poseidon laughed. The sound drowned out the waves. 'I see why Hecate is so fond of you. But beware, my brother's patience will not live forever. Your mother may be powerful, but even she wouldn't last against the might of the Master Bolt.'

Sam snorted. 'As if, she has to snap her fingers and the mighty king will have his balls hanging on his chin.' Thunder rumbled and lightning pierced the sky.

Poseidon stared at Sam. 'And I thought my son and daughter were already mad for not being courteous enough in Zeus' presence.'

Sam shrugged. 'Any other reason why you are here, Lord Poseidon?'

The god pulled the rod, but failed to catch anything. 'There are strange things happening. We fear that another war may be coming. But that is not why I came, those powers you have exhibited recently will attract the attention of some people.'

'That teleportation thing? Do you know what it is?'

'It's a power that hasn't been seen for ages. You have inherited that power from your father's side of the family. Sam, you're a legacy of Janus, the Roman god of gates and travel.'

* * *

'You've met Poseidon?' asked Annabeth.

Sam nodded. He was sitting in the big house, Seymour was eyeing him. Lou, Annabeth, Chiron and Dionysius were in the same room. 'He's nice. Hard to see that he has a angrier side to him. He mentioned that my dad is a descendant of Janus. I'm a legacy.'

'You got transported to the beach, directly from the cabin?'

'For the tenth time, yes! I flipped the coin, George went outside, I stepped over the threshold and appeared at the beach, just in front of the wooden archway.'

'It only makes you more interesting,' said Lou eyeing him with a smile. 'Mysterious demigod with a hidden heritage.'

'A not so fun one, I may add,' said Annabeth. 'Janus and the Greek don't exactly get along. And the Romans do neither.'

Sam caught her gaze. It was rather grim. 'Great, that's just great. I am an outcast among outcasts.'

'Just another power for you too master,' said Chiron. 'I am more worried about the war news.'

'A third Titanomachy? New giants war? Something else?' asked Lou.

Dionysus grunted. 'I have no idea, but I'll go and ask my siblings.' The others closed their eyes as the god vanished in a blinding light.

The remaining people stared at Sam who was feeding Seymour some cheese chips.

'A Roman and Greek demigod-legacy, this could have consequences,' said Lou. 'Are we sure Sam shouldn't visit the Romans?'

Annabeth shook her head. 'Legacies or demigods of Janus aren't exactly favourites among the Romans. There was one and he sort of was the black sheep of the family.'

'Could we just not talk about it for a while?' said Sam. 'It's bad enough I can't control magic, not being able to fight or use this power properly. I'm seriously wondering what I'm doing here.' He wiped his eye.

The three exchanged glances before Lou lifted her brother over her shoulders and left the big house.

* * *

Friday morning Sam stood before the threshold of the cabin. He clutched the battle axe with both hands muttered a prayer to the gods and stepped through. He did not disappear. He let out a sigh of relief and walked to the dinning pavilion.

As he entered the building, someone called him out. Sam turned around and saw Clarisse beckoning him over.

'Lou asked me to find you a trainer for that weapon. Mike is our axe guy. If you'd like, he could show you some moves with that thing.'

Sam looked at the counsellor while racking his brain. He had heard stories about her, the most vicious fighter Camp Half Blood had. Singlehandedly killed a drakon. 'That would be nice.'

'He'll see you at nine thirty, the arena.'

Sam nodded and walked over to the table. He deposited his axe and got some breakfast. Little did he know, he would lose it later on.

* * *

At ten, Sam was lying on his back panting and trying to keep the eggs and bacon in. Mike grinned as he lifted Sam back on his feet. Sam panted as Mike offered him a bottle.

'Not bad for a first timer, but there is some room for improvement,' said Mike. The fifteen year old demigod picked up his hatchet.

Sam picked up his battle axe and twirled the blades around. 'Let's do that again.'

'With pleasure.'

Sam swung his axe to the right. Mike ducked and aimed the head at Sam's knee. Sam sidestepped and buried his axe in the sand. His opponent rolled on the floor and got back up as Sam lifted his weapon back up.

The two attacked and the clash of metal on metal reverberated through the air. Mike pushed as Sam braced himself. He slid back for a couple of inches, but maintained his stance. Sam pushed Mike's weapon back and swung his blade afterwards. He caught his opponent in the ribs. The blade bounced off of the metal armour. As Mike stumbled, Sam advanced hitting Mike with the knob. The Ares camper fell down and Sam placed his blade on his throat.

'Guess I win.'

'Guess I underestimated you,' said Mike.

'Most people do.'

* * *

Later that night, John helped him into a suit of armour.

'Can't I just wear the cloak? This thing is so stiff.' Sam tried to move, but it didn't budge.

'Stop whining,' said John as he tightened the straps of his breastplate. Sam gasped. 'This will keep you pretty much safe for tonight.'

Lou patted Sam on the head before she stomped a helmet on his head. 'We're joining the blue team for tonight. We'll stick you on defence, so there won't be much fighting involved.'

'Thanks.' Sam picked up his battle axe as Lou draped his cloak over his armour.

'There, now you actually look like a demigod ready to fight.'

* * *

An hour later, Sam was hiding behind some bushes for some people of the red team. To his left sat Cali with her blade and armour made from Poseidon's forges, to his right sat Nick, a demigod of Nike. He grinned while unsheathing his broadsword blade.

Some reds walked past Sam. Sam and Nick signalled to each other. Cali nodded when Sam motioned for attack. The three of them attacked the two reds in the back. One of the reds was a Hephaistos camper. He swung his hammer at Nick who blocked the attack. Cali engaged the other one. He wielded two swords and no shield. Sam joined Cali by swinging his axe at their opponent. Cali thrusted forward and retreated behind her shield.

Their opponent, Sam recognized her to be Emma, a Hermes camper, twirled her swords and charged at Cali with a smile. She deflected Cali's strikes and managed to push her back. She turned to him.

'Thought Lou would keep you out of Capture the Flag,' she said.

'Nope.' Sam swung his shield at her, but Emma jumped out of the way and slammed her weapons down on the shield. Sam reacted by thrusting his axe against her breastplate. Emma backed off for a second.

'Nice weapon,' she said. Emma dashed forward and swung her blades at Sam head. Sam blocked one with his axe and the other with his shield. Pain shot through his arms.

'Give it up Sam, you're not fast enough.'

'Who says I need to be fast? I just have to hit you hard enough.'

'And how are you going to that? Throw your leg at my head?'

Sam growled as he swung his weapon in every direction. Emma simply stepped back or deflected the strikes. When she grazed his arm, Sam let out a yelp and dropped his axe. He clasped his arm. It burned. Cali had attacked Emma in the meantime, but the Hermes camper was faster with her twin blades. Cali got swept off her feet and Emma disarmed her by kicking her sword out of her hand. Nick had also been disarmed by his opponent.

'Guess you lose tonight,' said the Hephaistos camper with a smirk.

Sam reacted by smashing his shield at the guy. Emma reacted by pummelling him in the face. Spots appeared in front of his eyes.

'Get down and stay down,' she growled as she struck him once more. Sam fell down as he felt his body tingling. His arm throbbed. He felt blood dripping from his arm. There was something warm in his chest. As he saw his opponents disappear in the woods Sam crawled to a tree. He held out his hand and his shield flew to it. The tingling disappeared and everything went black.

* * *

 **Hope you enjoyed it :)**


	9. Playing With Fire

**Author's Note: Hi. First of all let me apologize for the abscence. Uni has been heavy and writing a thesis is seriously hard work. But that's all done now, so I have some more time on my hands to write for this and other fanfics. I haven't completely stopped working on this work, but it was mostly getting ideas and shaping them in coherent storylines. And this is what came out of it. Hope you enjoy both chapters. I'll try to update soon.**

 **TheLunerVampire: Thanks for the review. Hope you enjoy both chapters.**

* * *

 **Chapter 8: Playing With Fire**

Sam opened his eyes and saw Lou smiling at him. Helen was bandaging the graze on his arm.

'Why am I in the infirmary?'

'Unfortunately you got your ass handed to you in the game and for some reason your magical powers are increasing,' replied Lou Ellen with a chuckle.

'I used magic,' said Sam. 'There was a tingling sensation and my shield flew towards my hand.'

Lou's smirked widened. 'We know, your energy spiked. But the fact that you felt something is better news, it means I can start training you some more in the beautiful art of magic.'

'Well I just finished my last masterpiece for today,' replied Helen as she tightened the bandage. 'Your stump is a bit sore, so put on some cream before you go to bed tonight. Lou, you make sure he does so.'

'Yes, ma'am,' saluted Lou as she helped Sam out of his bed.

* * *

Three days after the Capture The Flag game, Sam woke up sweating heavily. He gasped for air as he shot up in his bed. A jolt of pain rain through his stump and into his toes. The toes that weren't there.

'Shit,' he muttered between his teeth. He reached for his nightstand and retrieved the bottle of painkillers. The pills he hadn't used in over a year. As he strapped on his prosthesis another jolt rain down his leg.

Sam tried to stand, but he fell down as his leg didn't budge. He pushed himself in a sitting position and sat against his bed. 'Dear brain, the right leg has been removed by a team of surgeons. We got this nice metallic leg as a replacement. So stop fucking around.'

'Sam?' John had opened his door. 'You alright? I heard noise.'

'I fell out of bed. Had a bad dream.' He was panting.

John walked in and took a seat next to Sam on the floor. 'You're not telling me everything.'

'There's some phantom pain. I feel pain in my right foot.' Sam showed a slight smile at John's look. 'Yeah the non-existent one.'

'You take meds for that?'

'Strong painkillers. It's been over a year since I had the need to take them.'

'Okay. What was your dream about?'

Sam popped a pill in his mouth and swallowed it. 'I was in a cave. There was some fire, but I couldn't see much. Someone, I think it was a woman was laughing, but not nicely, more evil-like. As I continued to walk I spotted rusted chains and other binding tools that looked really old. A man spoke of getting his revenge before the dream ended and I woke up with pain flaring.'

'Has anybody told you about the dreams?'

Sam shook his head.

John looked his younger brother in the eyes.

'Demigods sometimes get prophetic dreams about the future or the past. It usually is linked to a future quest or event. We are encouraged to talk about it, maybe the Oracle can help you out to figure out the meaning. Chiron might also know a couple of things.'

'Quests, as in the quests like the myths?'

'That's what demigods do Sam, we go on quests and try not to get whacked by some ancient monster.'

'Even the like seven year olds that camp here?'

John chuckled. 'No, those guys have to wait a couple of years before they can go on actual quests. It's not a law or anything, it's just to keep them as safe as possible. They don't actually like it, but we try to keep them entertained.'

'So, does the dream mean I get to go on a quest?'

John saw the excited shine in his eyes. He rubbed his neck. 'Well, we'll have to wait and see about that. Not all dreams lead to quests, sometimes they show you things that might help in life or other things.'

'Oh. Cool.' Sam stared at his leg. The metal shone dimly in the moonlight. 'John, why is Lou so driven to teach me magic? I just got used to the sensation of magic, but she's got me exercising hours on end, it feels as if she's pushing me for something.'

John helped his younger brother back into bed. 'Not my place to answer that question. You've had a bit of a slow start with magical energy so she's trying to catch up. What have you been doing today?'

'We've been going over the magical cards and the infusion of magic. I know that I need a strong basis before we continue with the more complex stuff, but is there a possibility that you could teach me some defensive and offensive magic?'

'Not without Lou's clear,' replied John. 'She's got to give the okay. After that, you'll be able to learn so much more.'

'Any clues?'

John grinned. 'Ask Lou, she'll be happy to give you the entire lecture.'

Sam groaned as he turned around as the meds started kicking in. John chuckled as he left the room.

* * *

Two evenings after the talk with John, Sam walked up to the Big House. Mister D, Chiron, Rachel Dare and a satyr were playing a card game. Rachel grinned as she picked up the chips as she had won the hand. The satyr excused himself while chewing on a tin can.

'Chiron, could we talk?' asked Sam. 'If you're not busy that is.'

'Of course my boy. Take a seat. Do you know how to play pinochle?'

'No sorry, but if I watch you play I might pick up the rules.'

'It's a four man game,' said Rachel.

Sam looked at the oracle. 'Alright, deal me in.'

'You'll team up with the oracle,' said Dionysius as he and Rachel switched seats.

Chiron dealt the cards. 'You'll pick up the rules soon enough. What is it you wanted to talk about?'

'A dream.' Sam studied his cards. He had all jacks.

'Ah, the brat had his first dream,' replied the god of wine with a sigh.

'What was it about,' asked Rachel.

'I was in a cave that seemed to be old, not mortal old but really ancient. There was a faint glow of fire. I could see rusted chains and locks lying shattered on the ground. Shadows moved as a woman laughed like a maniac. A male voice said something about getting his revenge.'

'Any other things?' asked Rachel.

'There was something that I felt that was odd. Beside the chains and binding tools laid a blackened crown. Specks of silvers shimmered in the light of the fire.'

The god of wine dropped his cards. 'A silver crown? Are you absolutely sure?'

'Yes, it was dented, but it was definitely silver.'

Sam sensed the air growing heavy with unspoken, divine tension.

'Dionysius, speak to the council. We must investigate this,' said Chiron. 'If she got out, we might be facing another war soon.'

Sam deposited his cards as Mister D. vanished in blinding light. 'Who is that woman?'

'The mother of all mortals, the girl with all the gifts, Pandora,' said Rachel as she showed him a hand that held all aces.

* * *

The next day Sam and Lou were sitting in the exercise room. It was the fourth hour that they had spent together, learning about magic. Both of them wore their cloaks.

'Lou, I'm exhausted. You've got me working hours on end and we still haven't done anything else than laying out patterns and infusing them with magic. Can't you teach me something new?' Sam took a swig of a water bottle.

'Once you've convinced me that you've gotten the hang of the basics,' replied Lou as she scribbled something on a piece of paper.

Sam moaned as he shuffled the cards once more. 'I've got the hang of the basics. You just don't want me to learn something else.'

'Then show me. Give me a pattern and infuse it.'

Sam picked up several cards and laid them in a pattern. 'Elemental, fire.' He placed his hand on the cards and closed his eyes until he felt the tingling sensation. The sensation exited his fingers. The cards flashed. 'There.'

Lou crouched beside the cards and touched them. 'It's rough. You've just poured the energy into the cards. It won't hold that long. I want to see smooth and clean magic. You know…'

'Rough magic is dangerous magic,' said Sam monotonously. 'You've mentioned it.'

'Don't mock me mister, you'll just have to train some more.' Lou stacked the cards and dealt them again.

'No.' Sam got up.

'What, no?' Lou laid a pattern.

'I'm done. If you won't teach me, I'll have to teach myself.' Sam picked up his cards and transformed the cloak into the hoodie. As he grabbed the doorknob, he felt a hand grab his shoulder.

'Sit,' demanded Lou. 'We're not done here.'

'Yes we are,' replied Sam as he removed her hand and left the room.

* * *

The sun was setting on the horizon as Sam was at the beach. He used his cloak as a beach towel. With a fresh notebook he was drawing the patterns he created with the cards. He made a new fire sigil and jotted it down in the notebook.

The curvy symbol flowed out of his pen. A central flame was encircled and bound by two interlocking triangles. The outer points connected to form a hexagon. Sam felt his fingers tingle as he finished it. He stared at it and drew it in the sand. He infused the sand drawn symbol with magic. A flame appeared in the centre.

Sam stared at the small flame that floated above the sand. Orange light radiated off of the flickering fire. He approached it. The flame felt warm, but not hot. He touched it. The fire covered his hand. The feeling was warm, but pleasant. Sam laughed. He was doing it.

'So this is what they feel when they do it.' Sam placed his hands next to each other and saw the fire spread across both his palms. The flames shrank as he closed his fists and grew as he opened up his hands again. Sam spread his hands and the flames formed a chain between both.

Out of nowhere he felt a hand on his shoulder. Sam jumped up and lost control over the flames. They grew and flew in every direction. Sam heard a scream. He turned around and saw Cali shielding herself from the flames. Water appeared to extinguish the flames. She fell in the sand.

'Cali,' said Sam as he dashed towards her. He clenched his fists and doused them with sand. As he approached her, he noticed the blisters forming on her hands and arms. He saw that part of her brown hair was singed, as was the hair on her arms. The scent of scorched hair made him gag. 'Oh, shit. I'm sorry, sorry. I'll get help.'

'I was worried that I didn't see you at dinner,' she spoke between moans. 'Water. Get water.'

Sam looked around and only saw his cloak. He grabbed it and ran to the sea. He threw it in and got it soaking wet before retrieving it. He trudged back to Cali and carefully laid the cloak on her body.

'Help, I'll get help. We need help. I'll be back.'

Sam left and ran to the wooden arch. He felt his prosthesis disliking the idea. A dull pain started to engulf the stump.

'Dear Janus, please let this work. To the infirmary.' Sam dashed through the archway.


	10. Facing Consequences

**A/N: Chapter 9 :) Double update yay :) Please review. I appreciate constructive critisism and ideas :D**

* * *

 **Chapter 9: Facing Consequences**

Later that evening, Sam was sitting in the hallway of the infirmary. He had succeeded in reaching the infirmary. Harley and Helen had shadow travelled with the help of a Hades camper. They had brought Cali back for treatment. Sam had seen the look she had given him before she went inside. It was filled with fear.

'Where is he?' boomed a voice.

Sam looked at the door. Percy Jackson had entered the building, closely followed by Annabeth and Gina. He looked angry. 'You!' Sam quickly looked at his feet as he felt a knot forming in his stomach. Percy grabbed the collar of his shirt.

'You burned her!' he screamed. 'You burned my niece.'

'It was an accident, I didn't…,' Sam stammered. Tears welled in his eyes. He sniffled.

Percy tightened his grip. 'You what?'

'Percy, let him go,' said Annabeth. 'It was an accident. Cali will be fine.'

'Let go of my brother Jackson,' demanded John. 'Don't make me repeat it.' John stepped between the girls and pulled Sam free. 'He's sorry for what he did. He'll be dealt with accordingly.'

'She's lying in that room with second degree burns,' growled Percy. 'He needs to be controlled.'

'He didn't mean to hurt me,' said Cali as she appeared hand in hand with Harley. 'I scared him. It was an accident.' She had bandages on his arms and fingers.

'She'll be fine. She'll need a haircut and daily baths in sea water for three days,' said Harley. 'Now let me treat my other patient or I'll have you doubled up in pain in an instant.' The scrubs-clad demigod pointed at Sam. The young demigod slowly joined Harley. 'The rest of you, scram.'

As the other demigods left, Harley led Sam into the examination room. She told him to sit and show her his hands. They were red and dirty. His face was red as well.

'Here.' She handed him a humid cloth. 'Keep this on your face to cool it. So fire?'

'I tried some magic,' said Sam. 'I didn't think someone would be coming for me. It felt good though. The fire didn't burn me.' Sam wiped his eyes. 'Don't know why, but it was reassuring, the fire, the heat.'

'It feels as if you could do it all day?'

'Yeah, how'd you know?' he asked holding the cloth between his hands.

'Because I feel it too, when I use my powers to heal. It feels good to do that. I guess wielding fire feels like that to you. I've seen what your siblings can do when they are really into it. Now are you ready to face Lou's wrath or do I keep you here for the night?'

'You can do that?'

'I'm the camp doctor and this place is like a temple. She can't exactly waltz in here to cause any harm to my patient.'

'That's cool, but I'll face it best I can before she calls on mom.'

'Even I can't protect you from a god, but I can get you out the back door. You'll want a clear head before you go back to cabin 20.'

'You're the best

* * *

He had walked around camp for a good half an hour before making his way to cabin 20. Sam wore his cloak that Harley had given back to him. He walked up to the cabin and stood on the porch. The door flung open

'Get in,' said John.

Sam walked in and saw that all of his siblings were sitting the sofas and chairs in the living room. John ordered him to take a seat in the empty sofa. He sat in the middle as Lou and John sat at the ends of the U-shape before him. His other siblings sat in the other sofa.

'Could you explain to me what happened?' asked Lou flatly.

'I tried to control fire. It worked at first. But I flinched and I got Cali burned.'

'Again. From the start.' She threw a notebook on the table.

'What?' Sam glanced at Lou, who's gaze was set to kill. He returned staring at his feet.

'She asked you to start over again, from the very beginning,' said John.

'I… I left the cabin with a notebook and cloak. I went to the beach to clear my head… I started creating sigils and symbols and drew them in the notebook.' He pointed at the notebook. 'I drew a fire symbol and it felt … felt as if it was speaking to me. There was a feeling of rightness. So I drew it again in the sand and infused it. A flame appeared and I toyed with it. Then Cali … 'He exhaled. Sam felt the other staring at him. 'Cali appeared, I freaked and released the fire. It burned her.'

'You burned her with magical fire,' said Lou. 'That's worse. You were actually lucky that you didn't infuse it properly. If you had, she might have received magical burns. Those don't heal that well. Do you understand what you did?'

Sam nodded.

'I asked you a question,' snapped Lou.

'Yes,' stammered Sam as he looked at Lou.

'You were reckless,' said John. 'This will have consequences. You four, go to bed.' He looked at the four other Hecate-siblings.

'The hell we are,' said Suzan.

'That wasn't a request,' said Lou. Her tone was cold and suggested that she wasn't in the mood for any nonsense.

'Don't care,' said Suzan. She stared at Lou with her pitch black eyes. The other three left slowly only to remain seated on the stairs.

'Fine. Sam Parker, for the reckless use of magic you are to be disciplined. Hand over your cloak.' Lou waved her hand. All of Sam's notebooks appeared on the table. Six notebooks filled with sigils and other magical drawings. Sam took off his cloak and handed it over.

'Your deck of cards,' said John. Sam pointed at the cloak. John retrieved the deck and placed it on the table.

Lou folded the cloak and stacked everything on top of each other. She and John cast a spell over it and everything disappeared.

'You'll get your things back once we deem that you have been punished enough. On top of losing your personal items, you will train yourself in the correct use of magic every day under my or John's tutelage. Fail to grasp the concept and you lose more. You will not participate in any Flag games, nor will you enjoy the perks that come with the cabin. Your room has been modified. You will go to each class at camp without fault. Besides meals and classes you are not to leave the cabin.'

'That's pretty unfair,' said the sixteen year old mage with black eyes.

'That is my punishment,' said Lou Ellen.

'You're the reason he tried to do it in the first place,' said Suzan. 'You refused to show him how, so he experimented. Like we haven't all done it.'

'He endangered another camper, another human being. We all know what happens with bad magic.'

'And he feels bad about it, Cali is his friend, but she'll be fine. And you don't have to remind me of that, I was there as well remember?'

'Sam ignored the basic rules of magic,' said John.

'Oh, stick it John,' said Suzan. 'He only tried it because of us.'

'Enlighten me.'

'For being one smart mage you can be pretty dense. You've been showing off your skills to an eager, albeit untrained mage. You keep him locked in the exercise room doing the lamest form of magic that there is. You've shown him the awesome things we can do, what did you expect what was going to happen? Hi I'm Sam, a mage who can play with cards, why yes those people who can fly, transform into animals, get gold from stone are my brothers and sisters.'

'Do I really sound like that?'

'Shut up,' said the three eldest mages in unison.

'And your point is?' asked Lou.

'Be reasonable, Lou. Yes, Sam made a mistake, but you don't have to keep him inside like a dog just because Seaweed Brain got agitated.'

'He used magic without my permission, without my supervision. He could've hurt her much worse, or even himself. You've seen what magic does if it is too rough, too uncontrolled.'

'For the millionth time, I was there,' growled Suzan. 'I saw the others being shredded to bits, I saw her pleading for help. We were kids ourselves Lou. If Alabaster hadn't goaded us into battle we wouldn't be having this conversation.'

'Don't. Mention. Him.'

'Alabaster is the reason why you haven't slept for weeks. You saw him, even after the defeat he wanted to continue. They had every right to exile him.'

'Shut it.'

'Suzan, just drop it. Sam's got his punishment. There is nothing you can do about it.'

'Fuck off John. I've seen the looks. You're as scared as she is. You're both thinking that he'll turn out like our deranged brother.'

'I told you to shut up.' Lou readied a spell in her hand. So did Suzan and John. Tension flared.

'Stop it.'

The mages stood ready to charge one another. Each mage charged magical energy that glowed in a different colour.

'Stop it,' yelled Sam as he unclenched his fists.

The tension broke. A wave a raw energy got released. The three mages got knocked off their feet. Their magic dissipated. Lou crashed into the mantel piece whereas Suzan got knock into the sofa. John flew against the handrail of the stairs and let out a yelp. Blood dripped on the carpet.

'Please, stop yelling,' said Sam as tears ran down his face. 'Just stop arguing.' Blood dripped from his nose.

'Sam, it's okay,' said Lou. 'Just relax.'

'I didn't mean to distract him,' said Sam. 'We argued in the car. It was about a stupid movie I wanted to see, but he wanted to go ice skating. It was cold.' Sam sat down. 'There was a truck that ran a red light. Dad didn't see it because I was whining about the stupid movie. The truck slammed into us. Everything went black. When I came 'round, the car had been smashed. Firefighters were trying to get us out. I couldn't feel my leg. It was almost severed clean off. My dad sat next to me with his skull cracked open. I tried reviving him by talking to him, but he didn't answer.' Lou took a seat next to the young mage. 'I argued about a stupid movie and it got my father killed and gave me a metal leg.'

As Sam cried, Lou held his head against her shoulder.

* * *

He ordered another coffee and returned to his newspaper. He didn't react as someone came to sit at his table.

'Mr. Torrington, we need your help,' spoke the woman.

'Who is we?'

'The people who can give you revenge on the gods.'

Alabaster Torrington looked up and saw a dark haired woman wearing a simple dress sitting across from him. Her eyes accentuated her smile.

'What do you need?'

'The location of my pithos.'


	11. Last Mage Standing

**Author's Note: Hi. Here is chapter 10 in the story. Would love to hear from you via PM or reviews, I could use some inspiration for this story. Please review, it's much appreciated.**

 **BoomBapPoet: Hi, here's another chapter that I dropped, please do enlighten me with your infinite wisdom on story/fanfic writing.**

* * *

 **Chapter 10: Last Mage Standing**

She had used a light sleeping spell to put him to sleep. It wasn't as if she had to force him to sleep, the spike in magical energy had drained him of most of his energy. She was more impressed with him picking up the fact that she was lacing her comforting words with magic. When Sam had fallen asleep, she had removed his prosthesis and covered him up with the rough sheet that had replaced his soft linen sheet earlier that evening. Now, she was walking towards the kitchen were her remaining siblings had gathered after the event.

As she walked in, Lou Ellen saw her siblings drinking tea. John poured her a mug as well.

'How's he doing?'

'Sleeping. Had to use a sleep charm. Little bugger actually picked it up.' Lou took a sip. Lemon, her favourite.

'So, what do we do now?' said Ronan.

Lou Ellen stared at her former youngest sibling. After Mia and Jade, Ronan was the first male mage to join the cabin post-Second Titan War. Unfortunately, all six of them got caught up in the wake of Gaea's uprising. Ronan had displayed proficiency with Mist control as well as transformational magic, which he used most often to transform into animals, earning him the moniker of 'Animagus'.

'We train him,' she replied.

'He's not going to like another string of card sessions in the Room,' said Suzan.

'That was not what I had in mind,' said Lou Ellen. 'I said "We train him."'

'You mean, like all of us?'

Lou nodded as Mia downed her tea in a single gulp and poured herself another mug. 'I suggest that we each show him what we can do. To give him an idea of the possibilities. He doesn't have to choose immediately, but we could help him with the basics. If he can get his own sigil, we might have another Magician in our midst.'

'I can live with that,' said Mia. 'I'll get some books on elemental magic. Since he already has some experience with it.'

* * *

He woke up and stared out the window of the hotel they were in. The moon shone brightly. A breeze flowed through the open window. The refreshing wind was pleasantly cool on his sweaty skin. He turned on the light and turned around to find Pandora sitting in the chair opposite his bed. She wore a new dress.

'Have you had any success in locating my pithos?'

'I have a lead, but it requires me to move to New York, which is near the Camp and Olympus. It will be noticed.'

'Do not worry Torrington, my magic and allies shall keep you safe from the gods and your relatives.'

'Why do you need it anyway? I thought you had to release all evil from the box, not contain them.'

'My pithos contains more than just your evils. Hope remains sealed within. But that is not the reason I want my pithos. I need it to capture something else.'

'What?'

'All in good time, Torrington, now leave this place and set course for Olympus, our mission awaits.'

The woman disappeared in a rippling darkness, leaving Torrington alone. He sighed as he got dressed. As he grabbed his bag, he picked up his mistform cards. He summoned the first person from the cards.

'That lady is the walking death. She reeks of deception,' said Howard Claymore.

'She was made like that,' replied Alabaster. 'Get the car going, we've got to be in New York as soon as possible.'

'New York? You sure? I thought you never would go back. Something with a girl ripping your head clean off, if you ever set foot in the vicinity of Camp Half-Blood again.'

'That girl was my sister and yes I am aware that she will come after me, but a job is a job.'

With a sigh, the former mortal left the room.

* * *

Sam arrived at the dining hall almost dying of hunger. His stomach had growled for most of the ten minutes he spent getting dressed. He vaguely remembered Lou putting him to bed with a sleeping spell, but he was tired anyway. A note signed by John on his bedside table had told him to bring his axe.

He entered the busy hall, where most campers were getting ready for breakfast. Sam grabbed a plate and took a seat at the Hecate table. Root, one of the nymphs, appeared and shot him a smile.

'You look hungry, what will it be?'

'A double stack of pancakes, with syrup. Tall glass of OJ and a portion of sausages and bacon.'

'Lou Ellen, have you been keeping this youngster from eating? You know that that isn't the most effective training method. Even Achilles needed food.'

'Nope, he's just hungry.'

The nymph disappeared and came back with his order. Sam thanked her and walked over to the fire. He prayed to his mother and Janus before throwing some of the sausages in the fire. As he walked back to the table, a tingling sensation ran down his spine. The flames of the torches and sacrificial fire flickered. Sam took a seat. The air grew thicker and then a voice spoke:

Ancient foes shall rise,

The warriors will fade

Dressed in silver shade.

The last shall flee to mend

A brother's bond be the end

Tears of storm fall

When fire answers no call

Sam looked at the head table and saw Rachel Dare slumping back into her seat. He realized she had just spoken a prophecy. As the campers started to whisper about the spoken words, Sam looked at his siblings, who for some reason were wearing their cloaks and seemed to be preparing for a war. They stared at him.

'What?'

'Eat, we haven't all day,' said John. 'We want to show you something. Something a bit more practical than cards.'

Sam ate his pancakes as his siblings were preparing themselves. He couldn't shake the tingling feeling. 'What was that about?' he asked.

'A prophecy, probably,' replied Lou with a stern face.

Sam rolled with his eyes before exhaling tiredly. 'Lou, about yesterday evening. I…'

Lou silenced him with a sad smile. 'I know, we'll talk later. Now, finish that breakfast.'

Sam did as he was told and drank his OJ in a single gulp.

* * *

As he took a seat, the others removed their cloaks. Mia and Jade bound their hair in a ponytail, while Lou strapped on a belt across her chest that held several vials and pouches. Suzan put on a pair of black gloves and Mia attached a pair of water pouches to her light armour. John and Ronan grinned at each other as they put on watches and leather armour.

'Guys, are you going to war or something?' Sam twirled the battle axe in his hands.

'Not exactly,' said Suzan. 'We're going to show you how to use magic in a real life setting.'

'It's a show of skills,' said John. 'We have them each summer in order to see what the others have learned the past year. This year, we're using it as a teaching method.'

'Is that why I brought my axe?'

'That's for round two,' replied John. 'Just sit tight and watch closely.'

* * *

As the others walked over to the middle of the arena, Lou climbed up the stairs where he was sitting. He had managed to take a fresh notebook and pencil with him before they had come over to the arena.

'Ah, you're going to take notes.' She sat down.

'Guess I could use the knowledge.' Sam deposited the items next to him and stared at Lou.

'There are a couple of things I need to tell you before we begin. I have a task for you, you have to figure out what type of magic each of us is using. Don't worry, it's just to see how much you can pick up. Write it down as you would describe it, we'll correct it tonight.'

'Anything else?'

'Magic comes in many forms, that much you know. What you do not know is that magic requires a cost. Most magic requires energy to cast, but there are others that require more sacrifices. And a final point that I want to mention is that there is no good and evil magic, only a good and evil wielder, got that?'

Sam nodded. 'Only the wielder is good or evil.'

Lou patted him on the head before joining her siblings in the arena.

* * *

The six of them looked at each other as they readied their respective spells and incantations. Ronan was the first to attack. He drew a blade in a fluent motion and swung his weapon at his nearest opponent, this being Mia. The female mage retaliated by blocking the sword with an ornate knife. She grinned as water smacked Ronan right in the face. Mia pushed Ronan away and wrapped the water around her left hand. The water shifted into a sword and then became a solid form of ice after Mia had spoken a spell. The two clashed again.

Suzan and Lou faced off as well. Both wore their black cloaks and brandished a silver knife. Suzan was the first to attack. Lou blocked off her attack and the two demonstrated their hand-to-hand combat skills.

Sam felt a tingle, as Suzan powered up and said _Incantation: Desist_ with a voice that wasn't exactly like hers. Lou stopped her attack mid-swing and Suzan waved with her hand, causing Lou to fly towards Ronan and Mia who clashed once more. Suzan vanished in a puff of smoke and joined the three mages for a four way battle.

Meanwhile John and Jade stood opposite each other. Jade used a longsword. It shimmered in a green light. John wielded a classic bronze kopis that shimmered in an orange light. Jade attacked first with a powerful swing. John charged magical power as the orange light enveloped him and deflected the blow with little effort. Jade grinned as she continued her barrage of attacks. She said something and a symbol on her back lighted up in a white light. Grey wings sprouted from her cloak. Trusting her sword forward and flapping her wings, Jade advanced faster that John could block and she knocked the mage off his feet. As she attacked once more, John grabbed the blade with his hand and swung to the ground, slamming Jade wing first into the ground.

Sam forgot about writing anything down and only stared at his siblings who launched attack after attack on each other, occasionally switching between sparring partner. Mia was the first to be knocked out of the fight by Lou. Mia had formed an ice wall to fend off Ronan, but Lou managed to douse her with a knock-out potion. Removing Mia from the field, Lou then attacked John with a magical alchemical spell that caused the ground to shift beneath his feet, Suzan tried to finish him off with a knock on the head, but this failed as the staff bounced off his head.

John grinned as he lifted Suzan up and spun her around, until she threw up and vanished from the field, only to appear next to Sam and Mia. Jade muttered a name and her sandal boots lighted up. Sam blinked and she had moved faster than before. Lou narrowly dodged the point of her sword. John faced her head on and got slammed into the wall as Jade used the full momentum of her jump to deliver the blow. John appeared next to Mia smiling tiredly.

Ronan had transformed into a hawk and was now flying straight up into the sky. Reaching enough altitude, he reverted and activated his shield watch. A round shield appeared and Ronan kneeled on it as he descended back to earth before turning himself into a bear. As he descended, Ronan picked up speed. Jade's energy level dropped and she vanished from the field as well, before Lou looked up and saw Ronan advancing quickly. She grinned as she placed her hand on the ground and focused. A transmutation circle appeared and shimmered, just before Ronan crashed next to her. The blow was dull but audible as if Ronan had fallen into a heap of sand.

Lou smiled as she stared at her exhausted brother as she stood over him. 'Got you.' She panted as she considered the fact that her Mist control wasn't up to par. She hadn't even been close to his landing site, but managed to make him think she was. She helped him back on his feet.

'You used the Mist didn't you?' asked Ronan.

'Ah, so you did pick it up.' The two mages joined their siblings on the stands.

Ronan nodded. 'But only when I couldn't change the direction anymore, nor transform.'

The two took a seat as John handed them half a square of ambrosia and a flask of nectar. 'Eat, drink.' As the Hecate siblings recovered from their skill showing, Sam only stared at them.

'So this is what you can do? That's awesome.'

'We can do more, but this will give you an idea of the possibilities. John, give Mia some water she's coming round,' said Lou Ellen.

'What do you think? You ready for some experienced magic?' asked Jade.

Sam only nodded.

'Can you give us what kind of magic we used?' asked Lou with an evil grin.

Sam stared at her with a bewildered look, he hadn't written anything down. The others only chuckled. 'Not all of it. You obviously used alchemy and potions, John used some sort of berserker magic, Ronan obviously is an Animorph, while Mia is a Water bender. I'm guessing Suzan uses some sort of voodoo mind control magic, as she compelled you to stop the attack. But I can't seem to figure out what Jade uses.'

'Voodoo? Lou, can I please smack him?'

'No, you may not. Not bad, but it'll cost you some points on board. You used fictional references again. Jade, care to tell Sam what you are?'

'A shaman, I use spirits as my form of magic.'

'You've trained haven't you? You used three spirits at once,' said John.

'Two, I actually trained my swordsmanship. I released George earlier this year, his contract was fulfilled.'

'Ah,' said Lou before eating some of the ambrosia. 'Alright, time for some rest. We'll test Sam some other day, I've got things to do today.'

* * *

Later that day, Sam was sitting in the arts and crafts cabin, where he was entertaining the younger demigods as part of his community service punishment Lou had given him instead of house arrest. He had also received several books on magic from his siblings to read.

'Is this okay?' asked Ricky, a eight year old child of Zeus. He showed Sam a picture that vaguely resembled something Sam guessed to be Olympus.

'Sure it is,' said Sam. 'It's really good. Can you draw something for me?'

The boy nodded.

'Could you draw a pirate ship in the sky?'

Ricky stared at him with big eyes and nodded heavily before sitting back down and drawing again.

The group he was supervising with two Apollo campers by the names of Eve and Donnie, was made up of eight young demigods all from Olympian Council Gods. All children were between seven and nine years old. There was Ricky, eight and child of Zeus; the twins Lily and Rose, eight and daughters of Demeter; Jimmy, the youngest child of Hades; Tiffany, seven and the daughter of Aphrodite; a nine year old son of Athena by the name of Harry; Finn, seven and son of Hermes and Kim, daughter of Hephaistos. Although the camp had accepted them as demigods, they didn't do anything of the dangerous things such as wall climbing or questing. They had sword-class in which they used foam rubber weapons to hit each other with.

As far as Sam knew the children were pretty happy at camp, but they really wanted to go on a quest, especially after Rachel had spilled out another prophecy. He and Eve had spent an hour trying to persuade them to do something else than going on a quest.

'How was the training session?' asked Eve. The demigod was fourteen had her father's eyes and several freckles. 'We could feel it at the archery range.'

'Pretty cool. I got a view on what magic can do. But I'll have to master the basics first before doing something else. And that besides this.' Sam gestured at the cabin.

'Yeah, we heard about that too,' said Eve with a chuckle. 'I heard the Ares campers are planning a food fight tonight.'

'Oh gods no. I'm on cleaning duty after dinner.'

Eve only smiled as she praised Harry with his cardboard boat.


	12. Rifts

**Chapter 11 is here. Things are introduced and other are developed. I appreciate any constructive critique and ideas how to improve this story.**

 **I have read The Hidden Oracle and it might be that there are several small discrepancies between this story and the overall continuity of the original series. Maybe a couple of small spoilers as well, nothing major though.**

* * *

 **Chapter 11: Rifts**

A week later, Sam had joined several demigods for a mixed weapons sparring session. He had rejoiced when Lou Ellen had given her permission. The magician had joined George and Cali as the trio walked to the arena. A group of about thirty campers had gathered.

Sam was sharpening the blades of his battle-axe when he heard the first shouts. George shrunk his shield to a watch and together the boys walked over to were a group had formed. They heard two female voices scream at each other. Pushing through, Sam found himself on the front row.

'Your mother tried to kill Percy Jackson, she banded with Gaea,' spat Robin, a Zeus-camper wielding a slightly curved blade and shield.

'I can't deny that,' said Cali. 'But she wouldn't have done that if your father and his siblings would give the other gods some respect they deserve.'

'The minor gods,' stressed Robin with a smirk, 'Ought to be happy with what they get, second rate tier domains.'

Cali drew her sword. 'I'll show you what a second rate domain can do,' she growled. The sun disappeared behind some clouds that were getting darker.

'Cali,' said Sam. 'This is not how…'

His words got lost in the sudden gust of wind that swept through the arena. Rain started to fall. Campers activated shields for cover as the rain began to fall heavier. Those who didn't have a shield found themselves getting drenched. Sam put on his cloak and pulled up the hood.

'Ha,' said Robin with a smirk. 'A storm? Bring it.'

As the storm raged the two clashed swords. Not going for the defensive approach, swords clashed frequent and rapidly. Cali was the first to drop her shield and to use the fallen rain as a weapon against her opponent. She splashed Robin with a small wave. Robin lost her balance for a moment before retaliating with a gust of her own. The elements clashed and so did other demigods. Shouting matches between Council demigods and minor demigods arose, with the occasional push and shove.

Sam stared at it all as he went to pick up his axe.

'Hey mage,' said a voice before a ball of mud hit Sam in the face. 'Eat dirt.'

Sam recovered to see a group of Ares campers look at him, they got joined by Zeus campers. 'Dude, what's your problem?'

'You,' replied a muscular girl wielding a mace, Justine. 'We've heard about what you did to that Sea-kid. You're too dangerous.' She grinned. 'Who says that you won't burn us all if you lose control?'

'I won't, I just need more training,' said Sam as the storm died down.

'I say we finish the problem before it happens,' said one of the Ares campers. They all advanced before Sam could reach his battle-axe. Six of them surrounded him.

Sam exhaled and clenched his fists. He had a single weapon and it still wasn't exactly ready. The demigod moved his feet and mumbled a spell. The tingling sensation travelled from his chest to his feet. Sam inhaled and hoped that the defensive spell had worked.

Four of the surrounding demigods had drawn their weapons. The muscular girl launched a first attack. The mace hit something and bounced away. The others stared at Sam in disbelief. Sam only sighed as the shield had held.

'Told you that I only need more training,' said Sam as he unclenched his fists.

'That thing won't hold for long,' growled Daniel, one of the Ares-campers as he pounded on the shield with a war hammer. 'You're still the one that needs to hold it up.'

Sam raised his hands and focused his strength on keeping the shield up. Around him he saw more and more demigods clashing with each other. The sound of clashing metal reverberated through the air. Sam tried to keep up the magical shield, but the magic started draining him. His adversaries kept pounding on the shield, so he thought of a plan to reach his axe.

Just as Justine was going to hit the shield, Sam deactivated it. Both attackers got thrown off balance. Sam quickly amassed some energy in his fist and released it to push away his enemies. He ran to his stuff and picked up his battle-axe and shield before one of the Zeus-campers unleashed a thunderbolt from his hands. His wooden shield got burnt to a crisp. Sam screamed as the smouldering pieces of wood burned his arm.

'Sam, you okay?' asked George.

'I got burned by Sparky over there.' Sam pointed to the demigod wielding a bolt shaped blade.

Olympian demigods surrounded them again. 'George, get going. He's a Minor.'

'Piss off, Justine. He's my friend.' George readied his sword as they got surrounded.

* * *

'This is bad, let's stop it,' said Percy as he and the other counsellors entered the arena. Lou had warned them as she had felt Sam using magic. She had forbidden him to use any if neither of his siblings was present.

'Those little rats,' spat Clarisse and Sherman Yang.

'Bet I can get them to stop before you,' said Laurel to Holly who only replied with a grin.

'Don't care, let's get it over with,' said Katie Gardner strapping on a vambrace bearing a thorned rose.

The other counsellors only nodded fiercely.

Together, the former and present head counsellors marched into the arena.

* * *

Lou Ellen dragged her brother to the infirmary. After stopping the battle, the head counsellors rounded up their respective campers and transported the most injured ones to the infirmary whist sending the others to the amphitheatre where Mister D and Chiron were awaiting the troublemakers with the other campers. They had seen Clarisse ordering the non-injured Ares-campers to the amphitheatre. She looked seriously pissed.

Lou pushed Sam into a chair as Harley and the other medics tended to the injured. The injuries were mostly sprained ankles and muscles and bruises, although a couple of demigods got several heavier injuries such as a concussion and deep slashes and complex fractures. The injured demigods continued to bicker with each other.

'That's it!' Harley bandaged the last cut before throwing down her utensils. 'All of you, shut up!' The bickering continued. Harley grabbed a metal bowl and hurled it across the room against a wall. The noise died down. 'I just told you to shut it!'

Helen walked over to Sam and slowly removed his cloak. He gritted his teeth. She washed her hands with alcohol before taking a closer look without saying a word.

'I've had it with this Council versus Minor gods thing. If I so much hear a peep out of anyone that isn't a cry of pain, I'm reversing every treatment. It'll cause you much more pain than me.'

'But,' said a Hades camper before howling in pain as his arm got broken again. Harley only stared at him before resetting the bone and splinting it.

'This game has gone on long enough. I don't give a shit if you're Zeus' kid or the child of the goddess of dirt, in here every one of you is nothing more than a measly demigod that needs treatment from the entire extended family of Apollo. That includes myself, daughter of Asclepius and granddaughter of Apollo and Helen, daughter of Hygieia granddaughter of my dad, same goes for Jeremy, son of Iaso, Jane, daughter of Aceso and Nick, son of Panacea. In case you're not a child of Athena, we're all minor god children.' Harley had pointed to every tunic or scrubs clad demigod in the room.

Helen smiled shyly as she cleaned Sam's burns. 'I'll try to be as quick and gentle as possible,' she whispered. Sam nodded as Helen pierced the first blisters.

'Now, is there anyone who has any comments?' asked Harley. 'They might give me some insight, let's say something like that only minor demigods can receive treatment from me, also a minor demigod.' Nobody spoke. 'Good. All counsellors and campers with minor injuries out, the others need their rest.' She walked over to Helen and Sam just as Helen applied some ointment. 'That's going to need a couple of days to heal. No fire magic or salt water. Clean it every day. If you're unsure if it's healing properly, come visit us. Nice work Helen, you can just cover it with some fresh compresses and gauze. Lou, make sure he does as told.'

'Yes, ma'am. Is his stump still okay? Haven't checked this morning.'

'It's fine,' moaned Sam as he pulled off his leg and gel liner. The stump was clean. 'I just need to get my hands on a fresh liner soon.'

'He's good to go,' said Helen as she taped the end of the gauze.

'Off to the amphitheatre.'

* * *

After that Chiron has chastised the entire camp population for that reckless action and underlying problems, most active participants in the fight got their punishments from their counsellors. The Hecate siblings walked to their cabin dressed in their cloaks. They all took as seat in the living room.

'So, what's my punishment?' asked Sam.

'For the fight? None, you only protected yourself. For using magic without anyone present? It's a surprise. I do wish to know what magic you used. It wasn't that powerful. No nosebleed this time.'

'I used a defensive spell John showed me during training. It was a shield. Not that powerful, like you said.'

'Symbol?' asked John.

Sam drew a square with a dot in the middle on a page in a notebook. 'If I had used a cross it would've been stronger.'

'It would've required more energy as well,' said John. 'Did you use other magic?'

'Thought about using alchemy, but the risk was too great.'

'And why is that?' asked Lou.

'Sand is an unstable medium. It would've required intense concentration and magic to pull it off. I'm nowhere near that level.'

'And with that I can absolve you from any punishment,' said Lou with a smile.

Sam stared at her and his siblings. 'What?'

'You used your head while using magic. It's a good step towards becoming a real magician,' said Jade. 'You always need to…'

'Think ahead when using magic,' finished Sam. 'Think ahead, equate, simple is better, always carry a knife. I do keep a list of useful things you guys say during training.'

'Look who's learning.'

'Now, off to bed. We need to leave early tomorrow,' said Lou.

'To where?'

'Olympus.'


	13. Olympus

**Author's Note: Chapter 12 has arrived :) The following two chapters will be more background chapters. More action will be coming afterwards. Thanks for the 400 views, hopefully more will come. Please do review.**

* * *

 **Chapter 12: Olympus**

'Would you mind if we took a little detour?' asked Sam as he and Lou stepped into the van that was going to bring them to Mount Olympus. In the van also sat several other "new" demigods such as Tim, a son of Athena, Jane, daughter of Enyo and Mike, son of Demeter. All three were accompanied by counsellors, mostly because they all had participated in the battle at the arena.

'Where to?'

'Home,' said Sam. 'I have fresh gel liners at home. And it's only a cab ride away from the Empire. And I'd like to see my sister.'

'I'm sitting right here and the others are probably enjoying themselves as I am away.'

'Not you guys, my adopted sister, let me show you.' Sam opened up his backpack and took out one of his new notebooks. After leafing through it he found the picture. He showed it to Lou. 'That's Sarah.'

Lou looked at the picture that showed an eight-year old girl smiling. Behind her stood Sam, also smiling. She wore a green sweater with a big daisy in the middle while Sam sported a black hoodie that resembled his cloak.

'She's the biological daughter of my adoptive parents. I guess that she's a legacy of sorts. Mom and dad never talked about being part of this world.'

'They probably didn't know you were a demigod.'

'Could be, although they did send me on my way to camp when the letter arrived.'

Lou returned the picture to her brother. 'Anyway, I probably can ask mom to bring us after we've been to Olympus. The others can drive back to camp without us.'

'Cool.'

* * *

After about forty minutes the van stopped in front of the Empire State Building. Argus opened the door and ushered everybody out. He signalled the counsellors that he'd wait here. The eight demigods nodded and went inside.

The lobby was packed with tourists wanting to visit the observation deck. Sound echoed against the stone interior of the lobby. Sam looked at the walls and saw the engraving of the tower with the rays of light. The demigods walked to the information desk. A smaller version of the tower stood next to it.

'Fascinating, isn't it?' said Tim.

'Sure is,' replied Sam. 'Also first time to Olympus?'

Tim nodded. 'I became acquainted with this world only a week before you. Did you know Annabeth designed the rebuilt Olympus?'

'I did not,' said Sam. 'But I heard that she's into architecture.

'It's kind of an obsession really,' said Tim with a grin.

Sam returned the grin. 'I can totally relate to that.'

'What are you two talking about?' asked Jane. The twelve year old sported a red jacket over her camp-shirt.

'Our beloved older siblings,' said Sam nodding in the direction of the head counsellors.

Jane huffed. 'Don't talk to me about it. At least you guys have several siblings, I'm stuck with Anne-Catherine . And we mostly argue about everything.'

'Isn't that because you two are children of Enyo? Goddess of war and strife?'

'Isn't Eris another goddess?' asked Tim.

'Don't know, I'm new to this Greek god stuff,' said Mike who appeared besides Jane. 'I can barely remember who all the gods are who have a throne on Mount Olympus. I can name almost every plant at camp, but not the gods.'

'I could always ask,' said Jane. 'Looks like we can continue.'

The four head counsellors appeared by their side. Annabeth held a plastic card in her hand as she pointed at the elevator. The demigods entered the elevator. Annabeth slid the card in the opening. A mechanism clicked and a button appeared. She pushed it.

'600th floor?'

'Olympus,' replied Annabeth.

* * *

After a quick elevator ride, the demigods arrived at the 600th floor. The doors opened and light blinded the younger demigods for a moment.

As his eyes adjusted to the glare of the sun, Sam could see that Olympus was designed as a mountain top with a replica of the Acropolis on top. He spotted a paved road going to the temple. Marble and granite constructions were placed around Olympus, all bearing some gold. These included small benches and cabins. Water flowed through a constructed waterway bearing models of Poseidon and other water-related figures.

'Nice place,' he commented. 'Didn't think there would be this much green.'

'Thanks, took me some time to design this and we still add a couple of things every month.'

'Are you the new demigods?' asked a nymph wielding a clipboard.

'They are,' said Anne-Catherine gesturing at the younger demigods.

'They need to wear these for the duration of their visit,' said the nymph, who's name Sam could barely read in cursive.

He could read the capital N. N, the nymph, it is, thought Sam as he accepted the lanyard with a card that said first time visitor in bold red letters. He hung it around his neck.

'They are expected in the throne room,' said N before disappearing.

The eight demigods walked towards the throne room, while the younger ones stared in every direction. They spotted several statues of older demigods, like Washington and Houdini, but also art that showed them previous battles demigods had fought.

'So this is the centre of power of the gods, right?' asked Mike.

'Yes,' replied Annabeth. 'Should it ever be destroyed, the power of the gods would diminish greatly. The throne room features a throne for every Olympian god, don't sit on those if you wish to live.'

'Percy did that didn't he?' asked Jane. 'You're the brains of the couple.'

'How is it that people know those things?'

'Because you guys are like legends,' said Mike. 'I've heard all stories about the Second Titan War.'

'Those are stories after all,' replied the Athena counsellor.

The demigods arrived at the throne room, the temple as Sam thought. The four counsellors halted before the golden doors and faced the younger demigods.

'Before we enter,' started Katie Gardner. 'There are things you should know. First of all, bow to the gods and greet Zeus as the King of gods, secondly don't speak until spoken to.'

'If a god asks you something,' started Lou, 'be polite. Don't, in any way, draw a weapon against a god. They will smite you if not in a good mood. Do you have weapons with you?'

'Never leave camp without one, you said,' replied Sam. 'Brought an enchanted knife.'

'Sword and shield,' said Tim as he showed them a wristband and watch.

'Blades,' said Jane as she showed them a ring with two crossed swords.

'Knife and bow and arrows,' replied Mike.

'Okay, so be courteous and try not to vex anyone,' stressed Annabeth before knocking on the doors. The doors flew open and the demigods walked in.

* * *

The room was bigger on the inside that the outside, as the outside building resembled the Acropolis, but the inside was larger. The room held twenty three large thrones and several smaller ones. Each of them was occupied by a twenty foot tall god or goddess. In the middle of the inversed U stood a large fire. Marble was abundantly present as well as gold and silver. Silver plates held drink and food for the gods. Statues lined the wall. The entire room was filled with natural sunlight.

'Ah, the new ones have arrived,' said Zeus. The god was wearing his gold threaded toga. His blue eyes shined in the light.

'We salute you,' said Annabeth as she bowed. The others followed her example. 'Zeus, King of the Gods.'

'Rise, mortals,' said Zeus. 'Who are the new faces? Speak.'

'Mike Acker, son of Demeter,' said Mike as he bowed.

'Jane Bowman, daughter of Enyo.'

'Tim Fredrick, son of Athena.'

'Sam Parker, son of…'

'I know who you are,' said Zeus whilst touching his master bolt. 'You're that little demigod who almost got blasted to pieces by me.'

'Yes, my lord,' stammered Sam he saw the anger in Zeus' eyes. He took a small step back and felt Lou's hand on his shoulder.

Zeus laughed. 'Not so boisterous anymore are you?'

'No, lord.' Sam felt Lou's hand disappearing.

'So, he's the one that was late to being claimed?' asked a goddess who Sam assumed was Athena, judging from her grey eyes and spear and shield that stood against her throne.

'Yes, Athena, he was,' said Hecate. 'I thought I'd mentioned it before.' The goddess of magic was wearing a black dress decorated with a silver pair of torches.

'Just checking,' said Athena.

'Now,' said goddess next to Zeus, 'should we introduce ourselves to the new demigods or do they know who we are?'

The younger demigods stared at each other. Jane was the first to answer. 'I recognize several gods here, lady Hera.'

'I do to,' said Tim.

'I've seen two of you before, and mom introduced Athena, so that makes three.'

'The lady with the sickle is my mom,' said Mike.

'Alright then, those who have other things to ask the demigods may do so, everybody else can leave,' said Zeus. 'Meeting adjourned.' Zeus left in a ripple of air. So did several other gods.

'You may step forward,' said Athena who had shrunken to a more mortal size. The other gods followed her example.

The duo's each walked over to their respective parent. Lou and Sam got a hug from Hecate.

'How has it been?' asked Hecate.

'Good, I've had a bit of a problem with magic, but we're working on it,' replied Sam as he glanced over to Lou.

'I heard. What have you learned?'

'John taught me some defensive spells and tricks. And Lou was going to give me an introduction on alchemy later today.' The latter part was a lie. Sam shot Lou a small grin, but Lou only returned it.

'Ha, very well. Do you want to talk to the other gods?'

'Sure.'

The Hecate siblings followed their mother to a pair of gods who were talking to each other. The first was a man who resembled to Frankenstein, but with more muscles and more hair on his face. The second was a man with curly hair and blue eyes.

'Lords,' said Sam as they approached the two.

'Mortal,' replied the first with a gruff voice.

'Sam Parker, cabin 20, Camp Half Blood,' replied the second.

'Correct, lord Hermes.'

'Just Hermes please.'

'Father of Liam, Julia and Alice and the other residents of cabin 11,' said Sam.

'I apologize for the theft of your leg.'

'No problem, it's always a risk if you sleep in a cabin full of thieves. I'll keep it safe with a spell next time I have to crash in the Hermes cabin.'

Hermes nodded and grinned. 'Now Hephaestus, don't be a sourpuss and introduce yourself. Maybe you'll have something in common.' Hermes vanished in an instant.

'Remind me to smack Hermes whenever he visits,' growled Lou, before Hecate showed her a stern look.

Hephaestus sighed. 'Hephaestus, god of smiths, fire, metal. I don't like you demigods, always messing with my traps and automatons.'

'Nice to meet you, god of negativity,' said Sam. 'I don't like you either. Your forges are too hot and your offspring makes a hell of a racket when banging metal.'

'Aha, but you're still friends with George, one of mine.'

'True, but he isn't such an ass like his father.'

'Sam Parker, apologize, right now!'

'No need, Hecate,' said the god with a slight smile. 'He's right, I am an ass to everyone except my children and my automatons. But he would too, if he got thrown off of Olympus by his own mother and mocked by the other gods for loving a goddess who enjoys the company of a war mongering jerk.'

'I guess that would be true, but thank gods I have a loving mother.'

'Keep up the language and she'll throw you right off,' warned Lou. 'Or else I might.'

Hephaestus laughed. 'I pity you boy, I might have a family that is crazy, but you have her. That's worse.'

'See, he knows what's right.' Sam pointed to the god, but only got an annoyed look out of his sister and mother.

'Take care, Parker. And keep an eye out for George and Kim, they might help you.' The god left in a column of fire.

'He's alright,' said Sam before joining Jane who wanted to introduce him to her mother.


	14. Family

**Double upload :) Happy reading. Please review.**

* * *

 **Chapter 13: Family**

After having met the other gods like Enyo, Sam politely declined the golden apple, Athena, Sam realized pretty fast that that goddess was not to be messed with and the war god, Ares, who almost broke his hand when shaking it, the war god had watched him and made a remark about him not being a 'complete' warrior, Sam followed his mother outside of the throne room to have a talk.

'What do you want to talk about?' asked Sam as they took a seat on a marble bench in a small park.

'Your father,' replied the goddess. 'I sense you have questions.'

Sam looked at his mother. She moved her hands across her dress and pulled off several symbols that formed a golden chain. The chain vanished and a glass appeared in her hand. She took a sip.

'How was he like when you met?'

'Paul was a wonderful man. I had no clue about his Roman heritage at the time, but he was special. Most men and women I feel attracted to do have an inclination of magical properties or possibilities.'

'Women? You swing both ways?'

'Please refrain from using that vulgar language. And yes I have had…intercourse with women.'

'Please don't talk about that when I'm around,' said Sam. 'Gross.'

'It's part of life,' replied the goddess. 'On with your father. He was a scholar who enjoyed the wonders of odds, probability and luck. However, your father liked to use his knowledge for financial gain. Not seldom did I find him getting thrown out of casino's and gambling dens. He got banned from Las Vegas right after you got conceived.'

'So my dad was a gambling addict?' Sam did not try to hide his tone.

'Of course not. When he got you, he made a vow on the river Styx to never gamble for money again. He wanted you to live a happy life away from the chaos that surrounds gamblers. He paid off his debts, got back to teaching and raised you.'

'Dad always played with a deck of cards. He showed me multiple card tricks and explained that they had power. I never truly understood it, but he was happy when talking about cards.'

'That's why I was attracted to him. When he played with cards, he didn't seem to use his knowledge. It's as if he knew how the cards would play out. I even did a reading and it turned out worthless.'

'A reading?'

'With tarot cards, the art of premonition with specific cards. The cards made no sense when Paul was the subject. Really weird.'

'So you only dated my dad because he liked probability mathematics and cards?'

'And because he wrote me a love poem with a coupon for a free meal at his place.'

'Dad wrote love poetry? Paul Winter, my dad wrote you lovey-dovey crap?'

'It was a nice poem about the night sky. And he cooked me a mean pasta dish.'

'Dad was fond of pasta, although his triple chocolate cake was heavenly. Mom, could I ask you something?'

'Sure.'

'Did you see dad after he died? Did he say anything?'

'I saw him before he went to the Underworld, he didn't speak. He only smiled at me.' Hecate blinked. The goddess saw her child cry silently. She grabbed Sam by the shoulder and pulled him in a hug. 'It was never you fault, Sam. It was bound to happen.'

The mage broke free and wiped his tears away. 'Thank you.'

'I'm always here for you, if you ever need anything just IM me, Lou will show you how. Could you send her in? We need to talk and then you have to leave to your sister.'

The younger mage traded places with his older sibling.

'Mom.'

'Lou.'

'Sam said you wanted to speak to me?'

'Yes. I've noticed that the magic acquisition isn't going as good as it should.'

'He'll get there. He's trying to master the basics before moving on to elemental magic, we both now he has a penchant for that.'

'Give him a deck of cards to practice with.'

'Those got confiscated as part of his punishment.'

'Not those, regular playing cards.'

'Why?' Lou Ellen eyed her mother with a puzzled look.

'Because Sam might be an excellent Player.'

* * *

In a flash of white light, Lou and Sam appeared in front of a small house. The door was painted in a bright red. Brown bricks gave the house an old feel.

'Your house?' asked Lou.

Sam nodded. 'Only problem is I forgot my key, so we'll have to ring and hope that my mom is home.' He pressed the buzzer.

A moment later the letterbox opened and a voice asked: 'Who is it?'

'It's me, Sarah,' said Sam. 'Could you pass me a key or open the door?'

'Prove that you are Sam. He's at summer camp and he isn't coming back before the end of summer.'

'You broke the vase and I told I did it and you brought me cake for dinner because you felt guilty.'

A key fell on the porch. Sam picked it up and opened the door. Lou closed the door as Sarah and Sam hugged each other.

'Mom said that you would be back at the end of summer.'

'I know, but I need a new cushion for my leg and I forgot to take some extra ones.'

'Mom will be mad, she always has to tell you,' said Sarah. The girl eyed Lou. 'Who is that? Strangers are not allowed in the house.'

'That's Lou, my counsellor at camp. She had to come with me, camp rules. Why don't you say hello, while I go and get some cushions.'

Sam left the two as he ran up the narrow stairs and disappeared.

'Hi, I'm Lou,' said the mage while extending a hand.

Sarah shook it. 'I'm Sarah, Sam is my big brother. Want to see my drawing?'

'Sure.'

Sarah led Lou to the living room, where she was watching TV and drawing. A stack of white paper had been deposited on the table and boxes with crayons and pencils laid on the table as well. The TV played some cartoon.

Lou took a seat on the couch. 'What are you drawing?'

'A pegasus, I saw one in my book. It's about gods and monsters.' Sarah showed Lou a half finished horse.

'That's a really good drawing.' And Lou meant it, the kid had some skills for an eight year old. She thought about Sarah being a legacy, Apollo could be a good possibility.

'Do you know anything about the Roman gods?'

'A bit. There's Apollo, Jupiter, Neptune and Juno.'

Sarah nodded. 'You also have Mercury, because the planets were named after Roman gods. Mars is named after the war god.'

'Or maybe the gods were named after the planets,' said Lou with a smile.

'That's silly,' said Sarah as she continued to draw her pegasus. 'You're pretty funny.'

'Thanks, not many people say that. Say, do you want to see a magic trick?'

Sarah turned to Lou with big eyes. 'You know magic?'

Lou nodded. 'Do you have a coin I could borrow?'

Sarah pulled a quarter out of her pocket. 'I'll need that back.'

'I might even double it.'

Lou removed her sweater and picked up the quarter. 'Nothing in my sleeves, nothing in my pockets.' She held the coin between thumb and index finger. 'Shazam.' She squeezed the coin and it vanished. She showed her palms to Sarah. 'The coin is gone.'

'Cool. Now bring it back.'

'Okay, come closer.'

Sarah dropped her pencil and sat herself next to Lou. Lou reached behind her ear and showed Sarah the coin. 'Tada.'

Suddenly a key turned in the lock and the front door opened. A female voice cursed as a bag fell on the floor. More bags got deposited before the door banged shut.

'Sarah, come and give me a hand will you?' asked the voice.

Sarah jumped off the couch. 'Okay mom.' She disappeared into the hallway. 'A magician was doing a trick with my quarter.'

Out of nowhere, a fierce looking woman wielding a bow and arrow appeared in the living room. She aimed the arrow with a gold head at Lou's chest.

'Who are you and what are you doing here?'

Lou held her hand in front of her chest. 'I'm Lou, I am a counsellor at Camp Half Blood. I am Sam's head counsellor. We came here because he needed some supplies. Would you mind pointing the arrow at something else, Mrs Parker?'

'She was showing me a magic trick,' said Sarah in a soft voice.

'Sam is here?' asked Mrs. Parker.

Lou slowly nodded. 'Upstairs. Call him.'

'Sam Parker, get your butt down here!'

The words hadn't left her lips or a rumble could be heard. Sam dashed into the living room. 'Mom! She's okay. It's Lou, she's my sister.'

'Hecate's daughter?'

'Yes.'

The bow and quiver disappeared. 'I am so sorry. Can I give you something to drink?'

'A glass of water would be nice,' said Lou as she lowered her hands.

* * *

A couple of moments later Sam got a hug and a reprimand from his stepmom, Lou got another apology and a tall glass of water, and Sarah got two quarters from Lou.

'I told you to take more gel liners with you,' said Maria Parker, daughter of Roman Apollo. 'Please tell me you brought ointment with you as well.'

Sam stared at Lou for an instant before shaking his head. Maria pointed to the door and Sam sloughed up the stairs to grab some supplies. 'I swear, one day he's going to forget his head.'

'At last, someone who agrees with me,' said Lou before taking a sip.

'Are you really Sam's sister?' asked Sarah as she used the two quarters to draw an infinity symbol.

Lou looked at Maria who nodded.

'Yes I am. I am his maternal oldest sister.'

'That means that you have the same mom. Then why doesn't Sam live with you?'

'Because we have different dads and it's pretty complicated. That's why we go to camp, so that we can see each other. And I didn't know Sam was my brother until he arrived at camp.'

'That's sad, but now you can take care of him. Because he needs to be supervised.'

'Sarah, shush.'

Lou laughed. 'You're alright, little Parker.'

'We didn't think we'd adopt another child after we got her, but Sam had something about him when we met him for the first time.' Maria smiled. 'The first day that he came home, he fell asleep in that couch and used Francis, my husband, as a pillow. And he hasn't left this place until the day that the letter arrived.'

Sam reappeared with a bag in his hand. 'I've taken liners, ointment and fresh bandages with me. Happy?'

'Yes,' said Maria. 'I've been hearing stories and I'm not that impressed. I heard you've been fighting?'

'Lou? What… I haven't been fighting. People played a nasty prank on me, I'm the victim. Jeez, everybody's after me today.'

'Just joking, now I'm assuming you guys have to return to camp? Need a bus fare?'

'No thanks, we've got our own ride,' said Lou. 'We better get going, we stuff to do.' Lou grinned as Sam stuck out his tongue, which got him a slap to the back of the head.

'Mom! That hurts.' Sam rubbed his scalp.

'Then don't be impolite. And send us a message from time to time.'

'Bye Sam, bye Lou,' said Sarah as she gave each mage a hug.

'Later monkey.'

'Bye, little Parker. Come on big Parker, we got to go.'

'Bye mom, say hi to dad for me.'

The two mages stepped out onto the porch before the door got closed. They walked onto the sidewalk before Lou froze.

'We got to go.' Lou sensed magical power being charged.

'Mom will pick us up in a minute.'

'We have to go now, there's bad shit about to happen. Raise a shield, will you. I'll get us a ride.'

Sam raised a shield with the spell from John. Lou walked over to the street and tossed a drachma onto it shouting something in Ancient Greek. Sam recognized the word chariot.

A taxi rose from the ground, made of smoke and reeked of Hell. The window opened.

'Whereto?' cackled a voice. 'Exact change only.'

'Camp Half Blood,' said Lou. 'If you get us there under half an hour, I'll triple the fare.'

'Hop in.'

Sam joined Lou who was arming spells in the taxi. He felt chains instead of seatbelts. 'What's going on?'

'There was someone out there,' said Lou. 'I need to get to camp.'

'Camp Half Blood, here we come,' said a shrill voice.

Sam stared at the three drivers. Only one of them had a single eye and tooth, and it wasn't the one driving. 'Oh hell no.'

The driver slammed the gas pedal.


	15. No Gain, Only Pain

**Chapter 14 is here. A bit more action and relative painful stuff. More is on the horizon. I'm guessing the entire story will be about 25 - 30 chapters in total, so that means we're about half way :)Please review.**

 **I would like to thank bfalt1 for the idea of the demi-titans. Go check out her stories if you like the PJO series.**

* * *

 **Chapter 14: No Gain, Only Pain**

The taxi sped off, with Sam being slammed into the backseat. 'Who is out there?'

'Keep that shield up,' said Lou. 'Someone who brings bad news.'

Sam opened his hand and closed his eyes, as he strengthened his shield around the car. Suddenly he felt a jab inside his head. Someone was attacking his shield.

'We're under attack,' shrieked one of the women in the front seat. 'That's not part of the deal.'

'I'll pay you fivefold if you continue,' said Lou as she opened her window. Wind whistled past her. She stuck her head out of the window and launched a spell. 'Gods's damn it. It's a bloody flying chariot.'

'What can I do?'

'Keep the shield up. They're shooting arrows at us.' Lou came back into the taxi. 'I count three of them.'

'Any way we can take them out? I can't keep this up.' Sam felt blood running out of his nose. 'Shit.'

The shield flickered as Lou went back out and shouted something Greek before orb of orange light flew away.

'Sam, lower the shield and take my hand. I need some energy.'

Sam grabbed Lou's hand and felt his energy dropping almost instantaneously. Lou's magical red aura showed. She grinned. The shield disappeared and Lou yelled an incantation in Latin. A street light moved and knocked the chariot out of the sky.

'Yeah, nice work,' said Sam.

'Thanks, but it ain't over yet.' Lou pointed at the mass of water coming towards the taxi from a nearby fountain. 'Hold your breath.'

A wave of water hit the taxi which dissolved into nothingness. The Grey Sisters cursed as they vanished. Lou helped Sam back on his feet as the latter coughed. Water dripped from their cloaks. Sam silently thanked Suzan for making his backpack waterproof.

'Weapons up,' said Lou as she transformed her bracelet into a sword.

Sam nodded as he unsheathed his knife a bit shakingly.

The mages stood shoulder to shoulder as three figures approached them with weapons: A girl wearing a blue vest over some leather armour, a guy about Lou's age wielding a golden weapon and a boy about Sam's age, wearing a red shirt and an eye patch. He wielded a bronze sword.

'What are you doing here?' spat Lou.

'Obeying orders, Lou Ellen,' said the guy wielding the golden blade.

'Who is he?' asked Sam.

'Sam, meet Alabaster, Alabaster meet Sam.'

Sam tightened his grip on the knife. 'Thought you'd be bigger.'

Alabaster smiled. 'Thought you'd be better with magic, Sam Parker, Son of Hecate.'

'Why are you here?' asked Lou once again, raising her sword.

'We're here for him,' said the other guy pointing his sword to Sam. 'He is awaited.'

'And who are you?' asked Sam pointing his knife the other guy.

'Thomas, son of Pallas, Titan of Warcraft. At your service.' Thomas's sword shimmered for an instant and he was now wielding a spiked mace.

'She reeks of salt water,' said Lou. 'Child of Oceanus?

The girl smiled wickedly. 'Iris. And yes, my father is the Titan of the Oceans.'

'Enough chit chat,' said Alabaster. 'He's awaited. Thomas, take him.'

'Take one step forward, and I'll have you gutted like a fish,' said Lou as she shielded Sam.

Iris chuckled and her eyes went completely blue as she waved her hand. Lou flew across the grass. Her cloak dragged her away. 'I like fish.' With another flick, she had Sam's arms pinned to his chest. Thomas grabbed him by the shoulder and with the help from Alabaster guided him towards the chariot that had landed nearby.

Sam heard Lou shouting a curse before Alabaster held out his hand and created a shield to deflect the spell that Lou had launched. He muttered an incantation and Lou fell back down onto the grass. Thomas had pushed Sam onto the chariot and together with the other figures, they flew off.

* * *

The rope chaffed his wrists and his shoulders ached. After they had brought him here, the figures had tied him to the chair, bound his magical abilities and left with his cloak and backpack. The room he was in wasn't that bad. It was an empty room in a house, somewhere in upstate New York. As none of the kids in the streets had seemed seriously surprised to see a captive, Sam guessed that the figures had taken refuge in several house in the neighbourhood.

The room had a single room, a table with a pitcher of water and a chair. The room had a musty smell, but seemed pretty well maintained.

The door opened and Iris walked in with another girl who held a tray in her hands. 'Ah, you're still awake. Sam, meet Aria, daughter of Lype.' Both 16 year old girls had blond hair and brown eyes. They wore simple black T-shirts. Aria deposited the items on the table. Sam could see a small black case, a plastic bag of some sorts and miscellaneous items.

'That's not a titan.'

'Smart boy,' said Aria. 'She's one of the Algea, personifications of sorrow. She embodies pain.' She picked up a pair of scissors.

'Our leaders have several questions that require answers,' said Iris as she donned some latex gloves. 'And we'd like you to give us those. Aria, you may proceed.'

Aria knelt beside Sam and started cutting his camp shirt. Once she made the cuts, she removed the shirt, exposing his bare chest and scars.

'That must've hurt,' said Aria as she touched the scar on the right side of his chest.

Sam thought he saw excitement in her eyes. 'It did.'

'Marvellous.'

'I thought you had questions.'

'Patience.' Iris picked up the plastic bag. 'We'll get to those in a second. Aria hasn't finished yet.'

Aria slid her fingers over every inch of his chest and arms smiling at every scar and point that has ever ached in Sam's body. She chuckled as she removed the bandages on his arm and touched the healing burns. 'I've everything I need.' She stood back up and stuck up her hair before donning a pair of latex gloves and opening the case. She joined Iris at the chair.

'What do you want to know?'

'Patience. I have another question first.'

Iris walked over to the chair and stood behind Sam as she opened the bag. Aria lifted Sam's chin, so that he could see Iris' smile. 'How long do you think you'll last?' She slid the bag over his head and pulled on the two straps.

Sam felt pressure around his neck as he held his breath. He saw Aria starting up a timer. After thirty seconds he breathed in. The plastic pulled closer. As he drew another breath, a gloved hand pinched his nose, forcing him to breathe through his mouth. The plastic tightened even more. His lungs screamed for air. Sam trashed his head around, but the pinch remained. His lungs burned. Suddenly the pressure disappeared and the bag was lifted.

'Almost two minutes thirty,' said Iris.

Sam breathed in and out to ease the pain in his lungs. Iris and Aria only smiled.

'What do you want to know?' asked Sam between breaths.

'Don't. Be. Impatient,' hissed Iris. 'You need some time to think.'

'Think about what?'

'What might happen if you don't give us any answers,' replied Aria as she slid the bag over his head once again. Iris restarted the timer.

* * *

Lou ignored Harley's objections as they were sitting in the infirmary. She wanted to get out, but the doctor ordered her to sit still as she treated the grazes and cuts she had sustained thanks to the demi-titan.

'What happened, Lou Ellen?' asked Chiron.

'Like I said. We got out of the house and I sensed Alabaster close by. I couldn't afford waiting for mom's ride home, so I called the Grey Sisters. We got attacked while in the taxi and they took Sam with them. They said that he was awaited.

'Are you sure you met someone with aquatic powers?' asked Percy.

'Yes,' said Lou as Harley put a band aid on her arm. 'The bitch threw a fountain worth of water at us and managed to catch me off guard by toying around with my soaked cloak. And yes, I know that it was stupid not to have made it waterproof.' The last remark was directed at John who grinned.

'Why would Pandora need Sam?' asked Annabeth. They had already assumed that Pandora was the one pulling the strings of the demi-titans and other adversaries. 'I thought she already has released all evil into the world.'

'That is the myth that was told,' replied Chiron. 'The truth was worse.' Thunder rumbled through the air. 'I shall tell you more when the time is right, for now, we have to get Sam back.'

'And how do we do that?' asked Sherman. Clarisse nodded.

Lou grinned. 'My dear friend, you have no idea what Cabin 20 is capable of. John, please fetch Suzan and a map of the state of New York, we're going to get our brother back.'

* * *

'Now, are you ready answer our questions?' asked Iris as she used the cut up shirt to wipe drool and foam off of Sam's lips.

'Just ask me the damn questions,' spat Sam defiantly before coughing.

'That just won't do,' said Aria. She picked up the bag once again and ignored Sam's protests. Iris held his head still as Aria slid the bag back into place and tightened the straps. 'A minute.'

'It's a shame that you're such an impolite little shit,' said Iris as she pushed some of the plastic into Sam's mouth. 'We could use another mage in our army.'

Aria retrieved the bag and waited until Sam had regained his breath before punching him straight in the stomach. Sam howled in pain as he tried to double over, but the restraints made it impossible.

'Now, are you going to answer our questions?'

'Yes, it would…' Sam breathed in through his nose. 'Please me to answer any question you might have for me.'

Iris slowly applauded. 'Twenty minutes and five breath stops. That's pretty good for a rookie. Most people only get it after we've torn off nails and sliced them to bits. Would you like some water?'

'Yes, please.'

Aria poured him a cup and slowly let him drink. 'There you go. Now you have seen where some politeness can get you.'

'First question: How many campers are there in the Greek camp?' asked Iris.

Sam breathed in and stared both girls in the eyes. They had obviously done this before, so lying would only lead to more pain. 'I'm not exactly sure. You have about twenty five cabins, but some are empty. I would say about 150 campers across about twenty active cabins. If the Hunters are there, it would be about 170 campers.'

'Thank you for your honest answer. Let's have some more fun before we continue, shall we?' said Iris. 'Aria, please prepare the tools.'

Aria grinned as she opened the case and retrieved a small knife which Sam thought resembled a scalpel.


	16. Magic to the Rescue

**Author's Note: The next chapter is here. Thanks for the views, they keep me going. Hope you enjoy this chapter, it has a bit more action.**

* * *

 **Chapter 15: Magic to the rescue.**

'That's a lie, and you know what happens to little liars.' She moved her hands and water flowed out of the pitcher straight into Sam's nose and mouth. He felt the water entering his lungs. Aria only stared at the scene.

Sam tried to ignore the pain and the panic welling up in his head. Just as he would succumb, the water retreated. 'I am sorry,' coughed Sam. 'The Parthenos does protect the Camp, but I have no idea how.'

'And that is the truth,' said Iris with a smile while she noted down the answer. 'Aria, please clean him up and move him.'

Aria nodded as she drenched a clean towel with water and started wiping off the blood and sweat. 'I'll be quick.' She continued.

'I am in pain, you should be ecstatic.'

'Who says I'm not? Pain can be marvellous, but not now.'

Sam stared at Aria as she removed the restraints for a second before slipping him into a new pair that allowed him to have his hands in front of him. 'You're weird.'

'That has to be the kindest thing someone has ever said to me.' Aria pushed him onto the bed and attached the wrists restraints to a chain that was attached to the bed frame.

'You. Are. Weird.'

'You've mentioned it,' replied Aria with a smile before she gathered the stuff and left Sam on his own.

* * *

'Are they always this scary?' asked Jimmy as he gripped his teddy by the arm.

Eve and Donnie had taken the young demigods to the dinning pavilion for their afternoon snack. They had picked up the rumours about the rescue mission. The older demigods felt the energy radiating from the six magicians as they checked their gear next to a couple of chariots and pegasi. Suddenly Percy Jackson and Clarisse marched towards the group. They discussed something with Lou Ellen, who had geared up by dressing in light armour with magical runes embedded in them under her cloak. Across her chest hung the belt with pouches.

'Not always,' said Eve. 'But they can be very scary if needed, especially Lou and John.'

'Will they bring Sam back?' asked Lily. 'He was supposed to go swimming with us.'

'I'm sure they will,' said Donnie. 'Lou won't leave Sam behind, Hecate children have each other's back.'

Before the Apollo campers could react Ricky and Harry ran over to the group. Ricky ignored the looks as he caught the attention of Lou Ellen by tapping her hand. Harry joined his friend.

'We want to go with you, you can use us,' said Harry.

Lou crouched and smiled. 'Thanks boys, Sam would appreciate it, but he wants you to be safe. I'm not going to take you with us.'

'Why not?' asked Ricky. 'I can fight.'

Annabeth and Jason, the head-counsellors for both the Athena and Zeus cabins arrived to take the boys back to the others, but they refused.

'I want to go,' said Harry adamantly. 'They might need different combat plans. You know I am good with those.'

'You're not going, Harry,' said Annabeth. 'This is a job for older demigods and the Hecate siblings already have a good plan.' She turned to Lou and Ronan with a look that said: "You do have a good plan, right?"

Ronan shrugged. 'We're mages, we don't do plans. We adapt.'

'Enough chit chat,' said John. 'We've got a camper to save.' He boarded the chariot. He got joined by Clarisse, Ronan, Jade and Mia, while the others rode the second chariot and pegasus.

'You bring him back,' screamed Ricky at the departing rescue party. 'Or I'll get my dad to smite you!'

Annabeth let out a laugh. 'Those guys don't get smitten, they do the smiting.'

* * *

Later that day, Sam was sitting on the bed trying to figure out how to remove the thing from around his neck that kept his magical abilities from being any useful. The restraints barely give him enough room to touch the collar. Sam could feel the raised relief of symbols, but couldn't identify them.

The door opened and Iris and Aria came back in, carrying a plastic bag and a new pitcher of water. They wore light armour and weapons.

'You're off again?' Sam asked.

'Yes. We've come to prepare you for your meeting with our leaders.'

'Good, you can start by removing this collar. It's annoying.' Sam pointed at his neck.

Iris smiled. 'Can't do that, we've seen what you can do with your powers. It isn't much, but could be enough to keep you out of our hands.'

'Jeez, thanks for that.'

'Now, we'll get you fed and dressed for the meeting. Hope you like dry turkey.' Aria repositioned the restraints and chain so that Sam could eat fairly easily.

'How's the leg?' asked Iris.

'Non-existent, and it's the stump,' said Sam while chewing loudly.

'One of these days someone is going to take that tongue of yours.'

'I've heard it before.'

Sam stopped chewing as a shrill sound blared through the room. Iris and Aria jumped up and drew weapons. Iris closed the door, while Aria checked the window.

'Who is coming for us? The gods cant' find us, they made sure of that,' said Iris.

'What's with the alarm,' yelled Sam just before it died down.

'Someone with godly blood is coming,' said Aria. 'We've secured this whole neighbourhood like a fortress.'

Sam laughed as he felt a familiar tingle in his toes. 'You guys are so fucked. She's coming to get me.'

'Hecate can't find us thanks to Alabaster's magic,' said Iris pointing her sword at Sam.

'I wasn't talking about my mother,' replied Sam as he took another bite. 'You've made my sister very angry.'

* * *

They had halted just outside of the neighbourhood. Geared up, the Hecate siblings prepared themselves. The eight demigods had their weapons drawn.

'John, get ready,' said Suzan with the echoing voice and black eyes. 'They're up ahead, seven of them.'

John mumbled a few words and raised his shield that glowed in an orange light. The group turned down the street as Suzan guided them towards the source of the magical energy that had reacted to their presence.

Suddenly they were faced with a group of lycans and drakons. The first of the lycans lunged at John, but got rebuffed by the magical shield. John swung his blade at the second one.

'Lou, go on ahead,' said Clarisse. 'I'll take care of these guys.'

'Keep Jade with you and take this.' Lou gave the daughter of Ares her silver dagger. 'You will give me that back, understood. And Jade, if you dare to die, I'll drag you out of Hades myself. If you can, join us afterwards.'

'Yes ma'am,' grinned the two before leaving the group.

The remaining six moved passed the monsters as Clarisse and Jade drew their attention. The two drakons attacked Clarisse. She jumped out of the way and thrusted her spear at the first one who backed off.

'Yeah, I'm back,' she said with a smile as the drakons stared at her.

* * *

Demi-mortals had set up a barricade just outside of the house that was the epicentre of the magical energy. Suzan told the others that Sam was inside, but she couldn't exactly see where.

'It's lined with magical barriers,' she said as John deactivated his shield and the six demigods lined up with shields raised.

'Ronan, you're up.'

Ronan nodded before he transformed into a fly and seemed to disappear into thin air. He flew off as the others raised their weapons.

Percy pointed Riptide at the mortal looking adversaries. 'How are we going to get past those guys?'

'Come on Kelp-head, you've seen what we can do,' grinned John as he powered up and drew his blade. He strolled towards the barricade while arrows bounced off his cloak and skin. Lou took out a couple of vials and threw them to the enemies on the left. Two people transformed into guinea pigs.

'That's two down,' said Lou as she drank a potion. 'We've got about twenty minutes. Mia, Percy, see if you can use the pipes to get an advantage. Suze, you're with me.'

* * *

'The mages have arrived,' said Aria. 'I count five plus Percy Jackson.'

'We can take them,' said Iris as she sheathed her sword. 'Aria, stay here and keep him safe.'

Aria nodded as Iris left. Sam kept eating his turkey sandwich.

Iris walked down the hall where she guided the demi-titans and other allies towards the enemy. All of them wore light armour bearing the red pythos of Pandora. Swords, knives and other weaponry was drawn before they headed out. The group stationed here was about twenty five strong, not counting the monsters.

Iris donned her helmet and drew her blade before joining her troops outside. Suddenly the sprinklers shot out water from the ground. Iris moved her hand and held an orb of water close to her as she searched for the culprit. As she scanned the front yard and street, she saw John McMiller hacking at the three warriors in front of him, Lou Ellen deflecting blows with supernatural speed, Percy Jackson was defending another mage, Mia, and Suzan ordered several of her allies to stand down.

Ignoring the mages, she focussed her attention on Percy Jackson and Mia, the resident water mage. She launched the orb. It stopped in front of Percy who had stopped it as he spotted her. She dismissed her warriors and stood in front of the two.

'Percy Jackson, hero of Olympus, Mia Black, water mage.'

'Iris, the child of Oceanus,' said Percy.

'Let's see what you've got,' said Iris as she advanced with a wave of water rising behind her.

Percy parried the strike, but the water crashed into him. Mia stopped the water by freezing it with a quick spell. She returned the strike by throwing a large chunk at Iris.

Iris blocked the frozen water and smiled. 'Finally, a real challenge.'

* * *

Aria looked out of the window nervously as Sam retrieved the clothes from the bag. 'I assume that you can't tell me where to find my backpack? It contains some valuables.'

'It's in the room next to this one,' said Aria absentmindedly. 'I could get it for you.'

'That would be lovely,' said Sam as he unbuttoned his pants. 'That way I can get changed in private.'

'I'll be back in a second, stay put.'

Aria got out of the room, but left the door open. Sam heard another door being opened and some rustling. Meanwhile a fly had entered the room through the open door, with Sam swatting it away when it came closer. Aria returned with his backpack and cloak.

'Alabaster said that you needed to wear that,' said Aria as she threw him the cloak and deposited his backpack on the table.

'Who are the leaders iris was referring to?'

'You'll see.'

'Come on, quid pro quo.'

Aria stared him in the eyes and chuckled. 'No.'

Sam shrugged as he continued to get dressed by draping the cloak around his shoulders.

* * *

Iris got cornered by a dual assault by Percy and Mia. She used her powers to push back with a torrent of water. A glance over to the rest of the troops, showed her that the mages where too strong for this group of ragtag people. They needed to evacuate to the main headquarters, where her bosses waited.

'Demi-titans, retreat to the house. We're leaving,' shouted Iris as she moved towards the door.

'No, you're not,' said a booming voice.

Iris locked gazes with a furious Lou Ellen, who wielded her sword with grace while knocking down multiple adversaries. She kneeled and placed her hand on the ground. A light flashed and the ground cracked and rumbled.

'You've humiliated me, you hurt my baby brother and now you want to run away? I will crush you.' Lou stepped forward as Iris ditched her troops and tried to run inside. Lou waved her ahnd and the door slammed shut.

'Aria!' screamed Iris as she raised her fist. Water rose from the soaked ground. 'Kill the boy!'

* * *

Aria turned to Sam who had stopped moving. They had heard the shout. She unsheathed her dagger. 'They should've stayed away.' She advanced towards Sam, but got stopped by Ronan who had positioned himself on the ceiling and dropped down on her. With the hilt of his blade he knocked her out.

'Ronan?'

'At your service,' said the mage with a grin. 'Come on, let's go.' Sam stared at his brother clad in his armour and cloak. His blonde hair was sticking to his forehead.

He helped Sam get out of the chains and restraints and the leather collar. They gathered his stuff and left the room. The hallway was deserted, but they heard the screams coming from outside. As they descended the stairs, they heard a thud against the front door.

'Let's go out the back.'

The two walked to the back door and found a lonesome guard standing there. The kid looked barely twelve. He wore a helmet that was too big and wielded a spatha.

'We don't want to hurt you,' said Ronan. 'I promise we won't hurt you, if you let us leave.' He raised his hands in a surrendering motion.

The guard strained to raise his sword with a single hand. He stared at the two before dropping it and running out the door.

Ronan exhaled and lowered his hands.

'Why didn't you knock him out?' asked Sam.

'He could barely hold up the sword, Sam. I won't attack a defenceless child. And a battle not fought has no losers.' Sam breathed and winced as a jolt of pain ran through his body. He breathed raggedly as he fell down. 'Sam?' Ronan knelt beside him.

'It's Aria, she knows about my pain. Get us out of here.'

Ronan lifted Sam onto his shoulders and walked out of the house.

* * *

Lou slammed her foot down and the ground shook even more. Shingles fell of off the roof and a window shattered. She raised her hand and Iris rose off the ground. Her breath was heavy.

'You wanted my brother dead!' Lou squeezed her hand to a fist. Iris clutched at her neck as she started to flail with her legs.

The fight died down as the mages proved to be too strong for the army of Pandora. John cast his last opponent aside so that he flew against his comrades who just got back up, sending them falling once again. He walked over to Lou.

'Lou, stop it. I know you're angry, but this is not how we do things, besides Sam and Ronan are standing over there. Safe and sound.' He pointed at the two figures appearing from the side of the house. 'Let her go. This isn't you talking.'

Lou unclenched her fist, but waved her hand, throwing Iris onto the wooden fence. 'She's lucky.' growled Lou. She turned around and walked off, leaving John to pick up his brothers.

* * *

The demigods left the house keeping an eye open for any enemies, but no one came after them. Lou had almost fainted, but Suzan had held her as she recovered from the effects of the potion. Together they bumped into Clarisse who had come to look for them.

'Did you manage to slay the lycans?' asked Mia.

The daughter of Ares nodded. 'Two Hunters appeared to aid us, Jade got hurt, but she'll be fine.'

The group arrived at the chariots and flying horses to find Jade in company of a couple of Hunters of Artemis. The girls both had brown hair and wore silver clothing. Swords hung at their waists.

John thanked the Hunters for their help and offered to take them to Camp where the other Hunters had been headed. The Hunters only nodded as they boarded the chariot that only held female demigods, leaving the boys to ride the other one.

* * *

 **Hope you enjoyed it. Please review.**


	17. Titan Spawn

**Chapter 16 Titan Spawn**

After the mages had visited the infirmary, Harley had chastised the elder siblings for not bringing her along, or at the very least a first aid kit. The medics had treated their minor injuries. Upon Harley's insistence the Hecate campers had left the youngest one with her to have her monitor him for a day or two.

'That's final John,' said Harley. 'He's sleeping here for the next two nights. And don't give me any lip.'

'I just want to know if he's fine. They tortured him for gods's sake.'

'Let me deal with that, now piss off and tell Lou that I want to talk to her asap.'

John Miller glanced at Sam who was being gently scrubbed by Helen while Jane stitched up the deepest cut on his chest. Harley closed the door and left the battlemage standing outside with a sigh.

* * *

Lou rummaged through the drawers until she found an unopened deck of playing cards. She had told her sisters what their mother had told her and Suzan went to find a book in the library while Mia made the tea.

'So, why are we looking for playing cards and books again?' asked Mia as she deposited three cups of tea on the large table in the main room of cabin 20.

'Because mom mentioned players,' said Lou. 'I can't remember what that means, but I'm guessing that it's a form of magic.'

'That's right,' said Suzan as she slid down the rail which got her a disapproving look of her sisters. She dropped a leather bound volume on the table. 'It's a form of magic that finds its roots in chance and luck.' She opened the volume and read out loud: "Players or synchronists are those who can manipulate entropy and probability into their favour."

'Sounds obscure,' said Mia.

'It seems to be, but from what I get, it can be a guiding line for other forms of magic.' Suzan stared at her sisters. 'Like fire magic or enchantments.'

Lou nodded as she read. 'Over the years, synchronity had diminished as a form of magic, but it is known that some people tend to be able to picking up the skill, mostly in situations with high concentrations of chances and probabilities such as casino's.'

'A deck of cards and that skill? That would be a nice combo if used in Vegas,' commented Mia.

'I think that's why mom suggested it. His dad was a fan of cards.' Lou stared at their puzzled looks. 'I might have overheard their conversation at Olympus.'

'You eavesdropped on them,' said Mia with a smirk.

Lou rolled with her eyes as her sisters laughed.

* * *

Sam dropped the pen and closed his notebook. He pushed the tray away and stared at the ceiling. As he closed his eyes, images of Iris and Aria appeared before him. A sharp pain rain through his chest and stump. Sam gasped for air. The pain flared for a second before disappearing.

'I guess that's the phantom pain?' asked Harley softly as she touched his forehead. He was burning up. 'There's nothing wrong with you physically. Drink this.' Harley gave him a cup.

'It's nothing,' said Sam gritting his teeth.

Harley gave him a look as she took a seat. 'Yeah, tell that to someone who isn't a doctor and a daughter of the god of medicine. Talk.'

'There was this girl. She is the daughter of Lype. She seemed to enjoy my pain. But then again she wasn't too sure about what was happening.'

'Lype, the embodiment of pain,' said Harley. 'That's disturbing.'

'Those people who captured me, were all demi-titans or other super naturals. From what I get, is that Pandora is gathering all super-powered demi-mortals to form an army against the gods.'

'Leave that to the gods, they are well-equipped for these kind of crises, although they'll probably need our help.'

'Harley…'

'Yeah?'

'Could we keep this phantom pain a secret for now? I just don't want Lou worrying about me all the time. I'll come around if something happens.'

'Deal, but I get to give this bed your name on a permanent basis, you've been spending more time in here than the rest of your cabin combined. You attract bad mojo,' she added with a grin.

'Shuddup,' he slurred. 'Did you give…'

'It'll let you sleep until morning, Lou ain't the only one who's good with potions. Just let it sink in.'

'Damned witch doctor,' he sighed.

* * *

That night the head counsellors joined Chiron and Dionysius in the Big House for a meeting. Lou joined Harley outside the house as the others entered.

'How's he doing?' asked Lou as she removed her hood.

'Sleeping peacefully. Had to slip him some sleeping potion, the kid's pretty adamant in dealing with things on his own. And he was scribbling in his notebook before falling asleep.'

Lou nodded. 'He likes to doodle.'

'A common trait among you magicians,' smiled Harley.

'Ladies, we're waiting,' said Clarisse with a grin.

The three demigods entered the house and joined the others in the War Room as the room with the ping pong table and Seymour was called.

'We've gathered here tonight to discuss the latest developments in the recent prophesy and the indications that Pandora has escaped captivity,' said Chiron. 'Before we start I need your word that you'll not tell any other camper about what I am to tell you until further notice.'

'On the Styx?' asked Sherman.

'That won't be necessary,' said Chiron.

One after the other, the head counsellors swore to keep the information a secret for the time being. When Holly has finished her oath, Chiron cleared his throat.

'I have the authorisation of the Council to tell you the true story of Pandora and what was her fate. As you know Pandora was created by Hephaestus as instructed by Zeus. She was a beautiful woman, which was only enhanced by the gifts. Athena got her clothed in a gown and gave her a tiara before endowing her with certain wisdom for the crafts, so did Hephaestus, Aphrodite gave her almost godly beauty, Apollo gave her the gift of healing and the fine arts, while Demeter and Poseidon gave her the abilities to tend a garden where all would grow plenty and to never drown. Zeus gave her foolishness and mischievousness and Hera gave her curiosity while Hermes gave her charm, deceit and cunning.'

'We know that,' interjected Annabeth. 'I've read the works. The box and the evils and such.'

Chiron stared at Annabeth and sighed. 'I admire your talent Annabeth, but you don't know everything. Hecate taught her magic, Hades gave her the power of the shadows, Ares taught her battle strategy and swordsmanship. Artemis gave Pandora the skill of bow and arrow and Dionysius taught her…'

'I gave the woman the gift of wine,' said the god with a grumble. 'Hestia is the only one who refused to teach her anything. It may have saved us in the end as Pandora is weak against fire, with her being created from clay and soil.'

'You mentioned captivity,' said Percy.

'After the release of the evil Pandora turned against us,' said Dionysius. 'She figured out how to have her pithos take gifts and talents from others for her own gain. The woman became an elusive murderer who wanted to obtain as many gifts as she could get. She murdered soldiers, godly legacies, fishermen, scholars and more. In the end she amassed an army to wage war against the gods as she wanted more power. She nearly defeated us thanks to our own gifts. If Hestia hadn't been there, we would've been decimated. We managed to contain her by taking the pithos from her and burying her in a deep cave. We had her chained and gagged for millennia. And now she got out.'

'So Pandora is fixated on people with certain abilities, like us demi-gods. She's coming after us isn't she?' said Katie.

'We have to assume that she is,' said Chiron. 'With the minor gods getting the recognition they deserve and their offspring having a home here, there are gifts that Pandora might want for herself. From what I understand is that she is amassing a new army.'

'The lady convinced demi-titans, lycans and others to join her cause. And one of the most powerful magicians too,' said Lou. 'Alabaster is going to be a problem.'

'Alabaster is with her?' said Katie.

'Yeah,' sighed Lou. 'She must've hit a soft spot. And I'm not happy with that.'

'Who's he?' asked the Victor sisters.

'My elder brother,' admitted Lou. 'He was the one who lead Hecate's children against the gods during the second Titan War. He got exiled as he never wanted to surrender. He's pretty adamant on that. He's always felt wronged by the gods.'

'Serves him right,' said Hilda, second in command for the Hunters of Artemis. 'The damn titan spawn got a lot of people killed.'

Lou whipped her head around and glared at the Hunter. 'Don't talk about that. You have no idea what that means. And remember, you're only here because Thalia is with Artemis.'

'But isn't that the truth?' continued the Hunter. 'Hecate is still a Titan, she was granted the title of god because she betrayed her own kind. Cabin 20 is full of demi-titans.' Glances and whispers got exchanged.

Before someone could react, Lou Ellen lunged across the table and grabbed the Hunter. She raised her fist as Clarisse and others tried to hold her back. Lou managed to throw a single punch before the counsellors of Ares got them separated.

'Enough!' yelled Chiron. 'Lou Ellen, calm down. And Hilda you're here as a representative of Artemis, remember that.'

'Piss off Chiron. Clearly we're not wanted here. Not by the Council gods, nor by the others,' said Lou as she pulled herself free from the Ares' campers. 'Until my entire cabin receives an honest apology, you can forget about us joining this war. Good night.' Lou ignored the words from people she considered friends as she disappeared into the darkness.

'Are you happy?' said Annabeth glaring at Hilda who was sitting on a chair clutching her head.

* * *

Two days later, Sam was walking down the path towards the arts and crafts cabin to start his shift with the younger demigods for the day. He resisted the urge to scratch the itch that came from his chest. As he turned around the bend, he heard someone call him out. He turned around and saw Cali running up to him.

'Hey, I heard that you got discharged from the infirmary. Any news from Lou? I heard that she refuses to leave the cabin.'

'I am as ignorant as you on that. John told me something about the meeting going south, but no details. As far as I know she's still at the cabin.'

'Too bad. You going to the arts and crafts cabin?'

Sam nodded. 'I'm still on community service duty, but I might have something to get the young ones busy for a day.' He pulled out the notebook from his cloak and flipped it open to the correct page. 'It's just an idea, but I'd like to run it with Donnie and Eve.'

'It's a quest!' said Cali with a broad smile. 'The kids are going to love this.'

'Just something simple, but they'd be running around all day.'

'You'll need some help with this,' said Cali as they continued their way to the cabin. She read the pages as Sam directed her out of harm's way.

'I could use your help with the pirate part.'

'You'll need some more. Have you talked to Chiron or Rachel about this?'

'Not yet, but I get the feeling that you'd be happy to help.'

Cali only grinned as she dashed into the cabin.


	18. Quests are complicated

**The next two or three chapters will focus a bit more on Sam and the younger demigods, and will lay some basis for the latter chapters. Hope you enjoy it. Please review.**

* * *

 **Chapter 17: Quests are complicated**

'This is awesome,' said Donnie. 'The kids will love it.' He slid the notebook back to Sam who sat across him. 'I'll see if I can get some help from the Apollo cabin.'

'We'll get that help,' said Eve . 'We easily can get some help from the other campers who need to help with the little guys, they'll be happy to not have to chase them around in the evening.'

'Thanks guys, I appreciate it. Any ideas?'

'Having Rachel give them the quest would add to the experience. I wonder which god we'd be able to convince to give us a hand,' said Cali.

'My mom could be a good chance,' said Sam as he made a new list.

'We could always ask Apollo, but I doubt he actually would be a good candidate,' said Donnie.

'Do we really need a god?' said Eve with a sigh. 'They really don't tend to care about the trivial things like this. If I would have to guess, I'd go with Poseidon, he seems to be pretty chill.'

'Definitely not my mom, she still isn't completely trusting when it comes to non-family members.'

'Aren't we technically all family?' asked Sam as he noted down their answers.

'We tend to ignore that fact. Besides the special abilities and the ADHD and dyslexia, we have no real evidence of divine blood coursing through our veins.'

Sam stared at Donnie who shrugged. 'Okay, so Rachel would have to be on board, we still need a god and besides some ideas, I have no clue on what should be done on the quest.'

'We'd better ask the Athena campers, they have a library filled with books with quests and such. From what I remember most quests were about demigods having to defeat a certain monster or retrieve some item for a god,' said Cali. 'Percy was tasked with bringing back the master bolt on his first quest.'

'Since we can't really summon a monster inside camp, I'd say we go for retrieving something,' said Eve. 'And there should be tasks or puzzles that would require the abilities of all littles, you don't want to have one of them getting mad because they weren't allowed to play too.'

'That's noted,' said Sam. 'I have to get going, I've got magic classes with Mia and Suzan. If you'd like, we could discuss this later today.'

'Sure,' said Cali. 'I'll see if the Athena campers are busy.'

* * *

The three mages sat at the dining room table. They stared at the deck of cards that laid in between them, neatly stacked on top of a book on the magic of probability.

'So you have the strong feeling that this is my magic?' asked Sam as he opened the fresh pack.

Suzan nodded. 'And since it somewhat is branched to my preferred form of magic, it seems that I will be assisting you when you're training.'

'What about the basics of magic? Last time we talked about that, I walked out and got someone hurt.'

'There is still some work,' admitted Mia. 'But we think that by starting with a bit more advanced magic, you'll be able to control your powers better.'

'I still radiate magic like crazy?'

Suzan nodded. 'Yeah, but not so much as when you had just arrived. Seems you have progressed.'

'Then let's progress some more.'

'Then I'll leave you in the hands of Mia, she's going to teach you the basics of elemental manipulation.'

'We're going to the lake,' said Mia. 'Take your cards with you.'

* * *

Moments later, Mia stood on the water as Sam was seated on the pier. Mia had created a magical barrier around them to let them use magic without any major issues.

'Any questions before we start?' asked Mia as she casually strolled across the surface of the lake.

'How long before I can do that?'

'A year or two, depending on how hard you practice.'

Sam stared at her, which Mia responded to by laughing.

'But no stress, you've got time. Now for the first step I'd like you to take off your cloak and stick out your arms.'

Sam did as told and awaited the next step. Mia breathed out and elevated some water and shaped it into an orb. As the orb floated between her hands, she walked over to Sam and slid the orb over his hands.

'Do you feel anything?'

'The water's cold as hell.'

Mia shrugged as she began to manipulate the orb by moving her hands. 'If everything is good, you should be feeling something different.'

'I do, it's that tingling feeling again. Magic?'

Mia nodded. 'Try to focus on that feeling. Close your eyes and really focus on what you feel.'

Sam slowly breathed in and out to get some better focus. He could feel the water being manipulated by Mia. The water brushed against his fingers. Gradually Sam felt something odd, there was heat coming from the cold water. The heat disappeared again, but Sam could feel a force beyond the water.

'There was warmth and now I sense something pulling and pushing the water.'

'Keep that feeling and force in mind,' said Mia as she retracted the orb of water. 'Open your eyes.'

Sam saw Mia being lifted in the air by a stream of water. She jumped and landed gracefully behind her younger brother. 'Now that you have basic notions of what magic is, we can start doing something else.'

'Basic notions?'

'Magic is a force that can be manipulated by pulling and pushing. That is what elemental magic, enchantments and infusions have in common. They all use magic in a pull or push movement.'

* * *

An couple of hours later Sam and Mia were sitting on the bank and Sam was trying to keep his cards in the air by pushing them in the air. Every ten minutes Mia had thrown in another card. Now Sam had five cards floating a bit above the grass as a headache gradually worsened. He groaned and the cards all fell down. A wave of fatigue washed over him.

'Not bad for a first timer,' said Mia. 'But air magic isn't your forte, so I'll let it slide. Maybe we should practice some telekinesis?'

'Not today we aren't, I'm beat,' said Sam as he took a swig of water.

Mia grinned. 'A tired mage is a mage who needs more training.'

Sam almost dropped the bottle as he groaned and stretched. 'You guys are all relentless teachers.'

'Magic is relentless, but let's call it quits for today. I expect to see you tomorrow morning for some actual elemental magic.'

'Thanks.'

The two mages watched as the sun started to set. Mia looked at Sam who closed his eyes. 'How are you doing?' she asked.

'What do you mean?'

'You know, with all of this, with what happened at the house.'

'I don't really know,' said Sam. 'I don't feel the scar all that much.' Sam lifted his trousers and popped off his leg with a sigh. 'That's better.'

'Still not used to it?'

'Bit of phantom pain, nothing unusual. And I might've overdone myself a bit today. I got pushed by my teacher.'

Mia only laughed as she laid herself next to her brother. 'You know that we only do that because we want you to be safe, right? Lou, John and Suzan have seen the bad side of magic and it scares them. It scares all of us.'

'Something happened during the second Titan war, hasn't it?'

'Uhu, they remain tight lipped about it, but it scarred them for life. But everyone here does that, not speaking about it. That war was the result of something that went south real bad. I guess some people got pitted against friends.'

'You think that the new prophecy will have such consequences?'

'What I've learned over the years, is that quests usually aren't such good things. The dangers are real and most rewards are pretty measly.'

'Maybe mom has a point with not letting us going on quests.' Sam reattached his leg. 'I'm not ready to kick the bucket.'

'Aren't we all?'

* * *

He walked into the room. Torches provided light, but the rest was dark. His footsteps echoed in the stone room as he approached the throne she was sitting on. Alabaster kneeled next to his co-commanders.

'Rise, son of Hecate,' spoke Pandora.

Alabaster stood and looked the woman in the eyes. Her gaze was cold.

'Have you found my pithos yet?'

'Not yet my lady, but my lead told me that the pithos would be close to the gods, as they might've feared your return one day.'

'Any idea which god might have it?'

'No my lady.'

'Then explain to me why I should let you walk out of here,' she said as she rose from her seat. 'Your siblings got away without any harm, I thought you took care of the tracking problem.'

'I protected the house from any godly intervention, not from an army of mages and demigods. If Iris hadn't stretched the interrogation beyond the necessary time, he might've gotten moved to here sooner and I could've gotten him on our side. More time and I could've swayed them all.'

'Oh please,' said the demi-titan. 'Lou would've torn off your balls at the first chance she got if I hadn't stopped her. They hate you.'

'At least people recognize my power.' Alabaster deflected the blow by sidestepping her fist. Iris swung again.

'You ought to keep your mouth shut, my time will come. Yours is finished.'

'Enough!' said Pandora. 'Both of you failed me. Get going and you might redeem yourselves. We need to be ready for the assault on Olympus. Alabaster, get me my pithos. Iris, see to it that our new titans are feeling welcome. Leave.'

The two left the room, leaving Pandora alone with their third general. 'Any thoughts?'

'None, my liege. They need some common goals to work together that's all. Once we lay siege on Olympus and their little camps, they'll work together. I'll just have to see that some of my fellows join our cause.'

'Rise, goddess of snow.'

Khione rose and stared her latest boss in the eyes. Pandora only smiled.


	19. Cheesy Should Be A Nickname

**AN: The next chapter is here :) Reviews are much appreciated.**

* * *

 **Chapter 18 Cheesy should be a nickname**

'So I've made a chart and it seems that we'd need six tasks to complete if we want to have everyone participate in three tasks, with Lily and Rose as one. I've taken in to account that the final task should be the final battle,' said Eve as she showed the others the table she had made. 'Who goes where is still open for now.'

Several demigods had gathered in the arts and crafts cabin to discuss Sam's plan on designing a quest for the youngest demigods. The group consisted of Sam, Cali, Eve and other people who were tasked with taking care of the young ones.

'The Athena campers showed me several quests and I think we'd go with retrieving an item or several items,' said Cali. 'But I think the kids would like to kick monster butt, so I think we'd need to get those in there. I'm not talking something lethal, but you know…'

'Real looking,' finished Sam. 'I've been coming up with the tasks and I've got several options. I'll need help with several of them, but I'll get to that later. This is what I've got so far: a puzzle that requires several small things to happen to get it solved, defeating a rogue automaton, a hydra, the Nemean Lion, …' Sam paused for a second as he saw the looks on their faces. 'The sphinx, the pirate Janus, a chimera.' More concerned looks. 'And something that plays with their fears, you know, that they can overcome them.'

Annabeth nodded. 'The Sphinx is a good choice, I totally agree with the puzzle.'

'We can build a simple automaton,' said Leo. 'A training dummy on wheels.' He started drawing on a sheet of paper.

'That makes three,' said Julia, caretaker from the Hermes cabin. 'Not so sure about the Hydra or the Nemean Lion. And who's the pirate again?'

'I heard something about a pirate son of Poseidon that the Seven had met on their quest, I'd have someone dress as a pirate and challenge them do a duel of sorts,' said Sam as he riffled through some pages. 'If there's no one who wants to do it, I'd be happy to.'

'Not saying that you can't, it's your show,' said Flora, the Demeter representative. 'But you don't really look like a fearsome pirate.'

'I have one thing that would get me qualified,' said Sam with a smile as he popped off his prosthetic leg and threw it at Flora, who calmly tossed it back.

'Yeah, but you're going to need more,' said Miles, son of Aphrodite. 'Some transformation is a good way to get what you need. And have you thought about the special abilities of the children?'

'I was hoping that you guys could fill me in on those,' admitted Sam. 'I'd like to have them incorporated in the tasks.'

'Here's the list,' said Eve. 'We needed it after the first time we put them in the same room.' A collective acknowledgement was heard from the other caretakers.

'Not bad for kids,' said Sam. 'Cooks?'

Flora shrugged. 'We get cooking instincts with the parentage. And those two are inseparable, so please don't do that.'

'Noted.'

'I have an idea for the Nemean Lion,' said Jack, caretaker from Zeus' cabin. 'You know that Hercules kept the skin as spoils of victory, right? What if we got the children their own spoils of victory? Not saying that we need to get them actual lion skin.'

'Candy?' suggested Cali. 'As in, we make a giant piñata that gives them candy if they manage to slay it. I'm in for something else, but this seems to be a good option.'

People nodded and hummed positively.

'So we have: the puzzle, the Nemean piñata, Sam the pirate, the automaton and the Sphinx. That makes five,' said Sam.

'I'd like to go with that idea of having them overcoming fears,' said Annabeth. 'It's pretty common for a quest.'

'That's one thing solved. Now we need a way to get them to separate for the tasks,' said Sam. 'Let's say three per task?'

'You'd have one task with two people,' said Jack. 'It would work if Lily and Rose would be separated.'

'That's not happening,' said Flora. 'They don't like it and we'll be spending an entire day at consoling them. No separation, period.'

'Alright. We'll have to adapt a task so that two people will get to do it,' said Sam. 'But we still need some godly help.'

'Still haven't found someone?' asked Nico. 'I would recommend Poseidon as he's pretty cool towards us demigods. 'My dad isn't an option, he's been grumpy lately.'

'But that's a problem for tomorrow, I have to go. Lou will have my ass if I break curfew,' said Sam as he gathered his papers. 'Has anybody asked Rachel about lending us a hand?'

'I've asked, but she seemed busy with the most recent prophecy. Might not be such a bad idea to ask her again,' said Annabeth.

'Seems that our plan is coming together,' said Sam as he walked out.

* * *

'That behaviour was unacceptable,' said Talia as she stared at her second in command. 'You know that Hecate's children are demigods like all of us.'

'I only said what everybody was thinking,' said Hilda as she stormed across the Artemis cabin. The other Hunters watched in silence.

'I don't care,' said Talia. 'Lou Ellen is a friend and a great warrior. You're lucky that she didn't curse you.'

'They can do that?' asked Riley, the newest recruit. She had been saved by Artemis from her abusive stepfather. The girl was a daughter of Apollo, one of the reasons why Artemis had agreed to take her.

Talia nodded. 'She's cool and all, but I never want to be on the other side of the battlefield in a war with them. Those guys can do horrible things to their enemies with the flick of the wrist.'

'So I've heard,' said Hilda. 'Her brother was a real danger.'

'He was obsessed,' said Tina.

'That doesn't matter,' said Talia. 'You still need to apologize.'

'But isn't she right? The Titans were horrible creatures,' said Riley. 'Who says that their children aren't the same?'

Talia whipped her head around and glared at the new recruit. 'Because,' she said with gritted teeth. 'One of Artemis most loyal Hunters was the daughter of Atlas. She died in battle and Artemis granted her the highest of honours. Zoë Nightshade was titan spawn, but was nothing like her father.' Talia breathed out.

'I still,' started Hilda.

'Enough,' said Talia fiercely. 'You're not participating in the Flag Game this week and you're on dish duty. I'm going to try and apologize on your behalf. You better pray to every god there is that Lou is willing to accept it, or you're on food prep duty for all eternity.'

* * *

Sam hurried towards the cabin in his attempt to reach the front door before the curfew Lou had set would lock him out. He spotted the cabin in the distance as he turned the corner towards the cabins. He saw a figure briskly walking towards the cabin as well, but the incoming night made it impossible to see who it was. _Lou,_ he thought. Maybe she had decided to stop living in the cabin like a hermit. He sped up to intercept her on the porch. 'Lou!'

The unknown figure approached her quickly. She slowly unsheathed a silver knife and hid it in the sleeve of her jacket. She arrived at the porch and looked at the cloaked figure. His step was uneven and his legs were different. He called out Lou's name. He slowed down as his eyes met hers.

'Oh, sorry. Though you were Lou,' he said as he walked up the steps.

Thalia stared at the younger demigod. He wore a cloak like the mages, wore a pair of cameo shorts and the camp shirt. His eyes were green and showed a slight puzzled look. Her gaze stopped at the metal poking out from under the shorts.

'If my guess is right, you're the youngest of Hecate's? The one who my Hunters helped save?'

'Yeah. And judging by your Death to Barbie shirt, blue eyes and killer look, I'd say you're Thalia, captain of the Hunters. I've heard stories.'

Thalia smiled. 'Right back at you, although they failed to mention…'

The door opened and Thalia stopped mid-sentence as Lou Ellen appeared in the doorway. She looked as if she hadn't slept much. She held a cup of coffee in her hands. 'The leg. You've come to insult him too?'

'I came to apologize on Hilda's behalf.'

'I'm listening,' said the head counsellor before she sipped her coffee. The two stared each other in the eye. Sam took a small step back.

'I, Thalia Grace, Lieutenant of Artemis,' she glanced at Sam. 'Hereby apologize for the behaviour of one of my own. The Hunters do not appreciate it when

'Meh that won't do,' said Lou with a grin. 'It needs a bit more…'

Thalia raised her eyebrows and breathed out. 'I Thalia Grace, Lieutenant of Artemis, Leader of the Hunters, Daughter of Zeus, Hero of Olympus, Former Head Counsellor, Bearer of the Fleece and… Major Pine,' Thalia paused for a second. 'Hereby apologize for the rude and un-Hunter like behaviour of my fellow Hunter.'

Lou Ellen grinned and let out a laugh. 'That'll do, Princess Pine. I hereby accept your apology on the behalf of that cow.'

'Lou,' said Thalia.

'Yeah I know, gotta learn to forgive. So I was told. You up for a rematch this Friday?'

Thalia smiled. 'Rematch? Ass whooping you mean? You guys still haven't defeated us since the Seven came back.'

'Oh please, that's because you guys live in the forest all the time, you guys have an unfair advantage over us.' Lou finished her coffee. 'Sam, get inside, you're late.'

'I was not,' he protested.

'It's three past ten, you're late. I said ten because you had to go to that meeting. Come on, chop chop.' She stepped onto the porch clearing the doorway.

'You're a bloody tyrant, I thought the Greeks were the original democrats?'

'Inside, or you're not competing this Friday.'

Sam barged inside and slammed the door.

'You really are not letting him out of your sight are you?' asked Thalia. 'He's nothing like Alabaster.'

'I know that,' sighed Lou. 'I just not able to shake this feeling of dread and I think he's the reason why. And the war is going to happen. Any news you can share?'

Thalia shook her head. 'The gods are as clueless as we are. Pandora is laying low somewhere and we have no idea what she's doing. The first guess is that she's trying to find her pithos, it's her personal sign of power.'

'Damn. Moment she gets her hands on that thing, we're doomed.'

'Enough shop talk. Tell me about your little brother.' Thalia took a seat on the steps. Lou sat next to her.

'The kid's a handful, he's stubborn and doesn't know when to shut up.'

'Asked you to describe him, not yourself,' interjected Thalia with a sly smile.

Lou rolled with her eyes. 'He just speaks about and to the gods as if he were untouchable, he's spent more time in the infirmary than all of cabin twenty combined. He doesn't seem to be the strongest of people here. I think he might not be cut out to be a mage.'

'Lou, don't take this the wrong way, but do you know him at all? I asked you to tell me about him, not about what he has done. What does he like to eat?'

Lou shrugged. Another door being slammed was heard.

'Favourite music?'

Lou shrugged again.

'If you dare to shrug again, I'm going to send you flying. What was that meeting he attended about?'

'I don't know, John mentioned that he was doing the mandatory community service.'

'Oh you poor thing. No wonder you've got to be a tyrant to keep your siblings in check, you don't know them at all.'

'I do to.'

'Then prove it, Lady Faust.'

'I thought you'd stopped using that nickname after…' said Lou as Thalia rose.

'Obviously I haven't,' replied Thalia, 'but neither have you.'

'But that name suits you. The tiara really makes you look like a princess, no damned band shirt can change that.'

'You and me, Capture The Flag, Friday. Time to whoop your ass once again,' boasted Thalia as she punched her open hand.

'Bring it, Needles.'

Thalia shocked Lou with a quick touch before she disappeared into the night.

Lou watched her go before getting inside. She walked over to couch where John was reading a book and let herself fall in.

'How was your chat with Thalia? You guys talked for ages.' He winked at her.

'Don't exaggerate John. And the chat was fine,' she added before stomping him on the shoulder.

'Did you say anything to Sam? He walked in, sort of stood by the door and stormed off to his room. You gotta ease up on the kid, he'll get there. He's just being busy with the quest for the little ones.'

'The door? What quest?'

'He's been talking about it for the past two days Lou. Jeez, I know you don't really meddle with what everybody here does, but you could at least pretend to be interested in his project. It's pretty fun,' said Suzan from the dining room table.

'Wait, he was standing by the door?' She stared at John. 'Oh crap.'

'What did you do this time?'

'Oh crap, oh crap, mom is gonna kill me.'

'What did you say?' asked John as the book fell on the floor.


	20. Fiery Hearth

**Hi there. It's me, the author of this fic. Here is the next installment in the camp life of Sam. I wanted to thank the readers for the views, they keep me going. A special thanks to MusicGirl1221 for the review, it helped me to keep an eye out for small mistakes and to the unknown Romanian reader who I guess read the entire story, it's nice to see that people like to read what I write. I'd love to get soem more reviews on this, but I will take more views any day of the week (which happened on Thursday).**

 **Enjoy.**

* * *

 **Chapter 19: Fiery Hearth (or Lou Gets Scolded)**

'We have found the location of your pithos,' said Alabaster as he kneeled next to Khione.

Pandora rose from her throne and walked over to the two. 'Tell me.'

'We captured Nereus by freezing him,' said Khione. 'He gave us the answers to our questions.'

'More than one? The old bastard is getting generous these days.'

'Removing his toes with frostbite made him a bit more complacent,' said Khione with a smile.

'Where is it?'

'"Hope survives best at the hearth"', said Alabaster. 'Percy Jackson has entrusted your pithos to Hestia.'

'My pithos is on Olympus? That is impossible. Zeus would've visited more often to taunt me with it.'

'Hestia doesn't have the pithos, she hid it somewhere and has kept it safe,' said Khione. 'According to Nereus it is not known where it is. Hestia's magic interfered with his ability.'

'Did you ask him anything else?' asked Pandora.

'We did,' said Alabaster. 'He granted us each a question before he transformed in a whale and almost crushed us.'

'I asked him how we could win the war,' said Khione. 'He told me to keep the gods in Olympus.'

'Interesting,' answered Pandora. 'What about you?'

'It was a more personal question,' said Alabaster. He stared at Pandora. She had known about his desire to return to his siblings.

'You asked him how to return to your sister, didn't you? I've told you that I would spare all of your siblings.'

'And that was what he answered, my lady. Nereus told me to remain close to you.'

'Of course he did, the old god isn't a fool.'

* * *

The pain made her falter for a second. She was confused. She had expected him to berate her, not her eldest sister.

'You told him what?' growled Suzan as she stared at Lou who slowly raised her hand and touched her face. Suzan felt the stinging pain in her hand.

'I was talking to Thalia about him and I told her that he might not be cut out to be a mage.' Lou flinched as Suzan raised her hand once again.

'Have you any idea what you said?' asked John. 'There is no worse insult.' He walked up the stairs and slowly made his way to Sam's room. 'Sam, it's John, can I come in?' No answer. John jumped down from the railing.

'I was just saying that I thought…'

'You had no right,' said Mia as she descended the stairs. Ronan followed suit. 'You have no bloody right.'

Lou looked at her younger siblings. 'I know that, I wasn't thinking… I didn't know he was standing there.' Ronan glared at her.

'You've done nothing but boss him around. Go do this, go do that. Practice, practice, practice.' Mia paused for a moment. 'Have you had a conversation with him that wasn't related to him learning magic since he got back? You're the head counsellor of this cabin, maybe you ought to polish your counselling skills a bit.'

'I… I know that. The counsellor meeting got me distracted.'

'There's another war coming, isn't there?' asked Suzan.

'I'm not at liberty to talk about that,' said Lou. Suzan only nodded. 'Look, I know that I've been pushing Sam to learn magic and it isn't working. He's still not up to par.'

'Who cares?' asked John. 'He's more than capable to handle himself in a fight. He doesn't need to be a master in the magical arts on the first day, we weren't either.'

Lou took a seat on the stairs and watched her siblings relaxing a bit. 'Who's training him now?'

'We tried some water and air magic earlier today,' said Mia. 'Air seems to be working, but water not so much. He seemed hesitant when I brought up fire magic. I'll keep you updated. We have two days until the game, so we could start working on some more offensive air magic.'

'Alright,' said Lou. 'I noticed that he's been talking to a couple of people each morning.'

'That would be because of his quest for the little guys,' said Suzan. 'It was/is part of the mandatory community service you punished him with. He's trying to get people to help him with it.' Suzan saw the puzzled look on Lou's face. 'The meeting from last night…'

'I've been a terrible counsellor,' she admitted with a sigh. 'And a horrible elder sister.'

'Finally, she gets it,' said John. 'Now get up there and apologize and talk to him. Not as head counsellor or teacher, but as a sister. Or we'll have no choice but to remove you as head counsellor.'

'You can't do that,' said Lou as she walked up the stairs. 'I'm the eldest.'

'Mentally you're nothing but a five year old,' said Ronan with a grin.

'Shut up, the lot of you.'

* * *

He sat at his desk as he placed another card on the stack. Sam was playing a game of Solitaire with the brand new cards Suzan had given him. The words of Lou echoed in his head. _Not cut out to be a mage._ Sam looked at his prosthesis and sighed.

'Maybe she's right,' he muttered as he threw the cards on his desk. He closed his eyes and thought about the things that had happened. His own abilities had led to nothing but disaster and pain. Sam remembered the scene in the arena, the Ares campers had a point when they called him out for not controlling his powers. Maybe he wasn't meant to be a great demigod mage or a hero.

A knock on his door brought him back from his own thoughts.

'Sam?' asked Lou. 'Can I come in? I'd like to apologize.'

'For what?' he replied. 'For telling the truth?'

'Don't say that, I wasn't myself when I said that. Can I please come in?'

'No you may not,' he said. 'Get lost.'

'I can't. The others have trapped me here until you accept my apology. I can only stand here or enter your room.'

Sam grunted as he reattached his leg and shuffled towards the door and opened it a bit. 'What?'

'Listen,' said Lou as she played with the hem of her camp t-shirt. 'I'm sorry for what I said.'

'Why would you be? Maybe you have a point.'

'I can't be right, you're my brother, a child of Hecate. We are destined to become mages. It's impossible for you not to become a mage. You are one by birth, you just need more… Scratch that.'

'I need more training, it's the song I've been hearing since I put a foot across the border.'

'Stop that. I'm sorry about what I said. Listen, why don't you let me in? We can talk about this.'

Sam exhaled through his nose as he watched the older demigod look at him with a desperate look. Was that fear he saw?

'You know what? I'm done talking to you,' he replied bitterly. 'I'm done with all of this.' He closed his door. He picked up his backpack and stuffed in some clothes, bandages and leg materials. He picked up the pouch with drachma's and decided to take those with him, even if he didn't use them he could sell them for gold coins. He picked up the silver coin and held it in the palm of his hand before slipping it back into the pouch. He wasn't selling that one.

'Time to go home.'

He hoisted the pack on his back and picked up the battle axe. He twirled it in his hands. This was coming home with him. The blades seemed to hum when he stopped turning them around. He grabbed his cloak and walked out of his room.

Lou reacted with a smile as Sam walked out and closed the door. Sam ignored her and descended the stairs as Lou remained standing on the second floor. John and the other stared at him as he threw his cloak to Mia who caught it.

'I'm out.'

Sam walked to the door and flipped the silver coin. 'Home.' He stepped over the threshold and vanished.

'What just happened?'

* * *

He gasped for air as he felt the heat of the flames. It felt as if he had been smashed against a concrete wall. Sam tried to sit up, but his chest was still burning.

'That was quite the bang,' said a voice next to him. 'Seems something went wrong with your decision to leave.'

Sam tried to speak, but pain ran through his chest, so he only gasped for air.

'Give it a moment,' said the voice. 'It'll pass.'

Sam turned his head around and saw someone poking at the fire. The voice had been female, so he assumed the person was a lady. A smell of roasting food crept in his nose. Sam closed his eyes and let the warmth engulf him. The pain in his chest subsided and moments later he was able to sit upright.

'Better?' asked the lady.

'Yes, thank you.'

Sam stared at the lady. She was about twenty years old. She had red eyes, shoulder length brown hair and she wore a plain brown dress. Something about her made Sam feel at ease. She smiled, which only enhanced the warmth she radiated.

'You seem to be hungry. I can offer you marshmallows or anything else.'

Sam watched the woman removing a couple of sticks from the fire. They held two marshmallows each, perfectly roasted.

'I could eat a horse. I'll take whatever you got.'

The woman chuckled and waved her hand.

Suddenly Sam found himself holding a plate of pasta with bits of bacon and melted cheese. 'How did…?' The woman only gestured that he eat. He hesitantly picked up the cutlery and ate his first spoonful. The food was warm and delicious, it reminded him of his dad's cooking. He forgot where he was for a second. Sam ate some more before he realized the lady was watching him. 'I'm so sorry, I forgot to thank you for the food. Thank you.'

'My pleasure. It seems you like it. It was your father's recipe after all.'

Sam stopped his spoon mid-air and stared at the woman. 'Mom?'

The lady chuckled. 'Not quite, Sam. Try again.'

Sam stared at the woman and thought about all the gods he knew about. There weren't that many of them who had food powers. He stared at the fire and looked at the cabins that surrounded them. The hearth of camp. 'Lady Hestia, the Last Olympian.'

'Aha, you have been paying attention in class,' she said with a giggle.

'I'm sorry, I should've seen it sooner.'

Hestia shrugged lightly. 'Not many do.'

The silence between them was only broken by Sam eating the food the goddess had prepared for him. Hestia had eaten one of the marshmallows and tended to the fire.

'So you thought about leaving the camp for home?' asked Hestia.

Sam deposited the bowl and cutlery. 'Yeah, I've had a bit of a fight with my siblings.'

'Yet you are sitting in the middle of camp right now.'

'The moment I stepped over the threshold, I was ready to go, but then I remembered the quest for the little guys and next thing I bounced off the border, straight over here.'

'I've heard rumours about that quest. What's it about?'

'Well the younger demigods I take care of really want to go on a quest, just like the older ones. So, I thought, why not let them? Not a real quest of course, just some tasks that need to be completed while at camp. Everybody thinks it's a pretty cool idea, but we have some difficulties.'

'It sounds like a nice thing to do. What kind of difficulties?'

'Most quests have a prophecy attached to them. And we'd like to have a god get them to retrieve a lost item or lost items.'

'Why do you do this?' asked the goddess. 'It seems that it asks a lot of your time, time you could be using to become a better mage or fighter.'

Sam shrugged. 'I guess it's to get the little guys accepted more, to really make them feel at home at camp.' He watched the flames grow bigger. He stared at his hands. _The fire had burned her._

Hestia smiled. 'You are worried about something. Do tell.'

'It's nothing.'

'Sam,' said the goddess as she appeared next to him and held his hands. Warmth spread from her fingertips.

'I would like to have fire magic as my magic, but last time I tried it, someone got hurt. Someone I care about. Fire is violence, destruction. Even death. I mean, look at Nero. He burned Rome to the ground.'

'Nero was rather fond of those,' said Hestia with a sad look. 'But you need to remember that fire is also peace, creation, light and life. Look at cease-fire, forges, home, cooking and family.'

Sam watched the goddess roasting another set of marshmallows. 'Family,' he muttered. 'That's why you don't have a throne on Olympus, do you? You're the eldest of the gods, shouldn't you be the ruler?'

'I have no ambition to be. I only want my family to be happy.'

'Yeah, I can get that,' said Sam staring at the stars.

'Say, you mentioned that you needed a god to help you with your quest? How about a goddess?'

Sam stared at Hestia. 'Would you? That would be great.'

'However, I do have one condition.'

'Yes?'

'Talk to your sister. She means to do good, but it might not appear as such. Remember that she has suffered through a lot during the war.'

'I know that. With Alabaster.'

Hestia nodded. 'Him too, but ask her about Bella.'

'Why?'

'It's her personal hell, a hell that she needs to let go.'

'Alright. Anything else?'

'I'd like to give a final gift for this splendid evening. Not many demigods can get me to giggle. I, Hestia, The Last Olympian bless you, Sam Parker. As supreme goddess of fire, I grant you the power over fire. It will not hurt anyone you don't want it to.'

Hestia grabbed Sam's hands and her eyes went completely golden. Heat spread from her fingers over his entire body. The feeling engulfed him for a brief moment until the goddess let him go. A flame flickered over his head and then disappeared.

'Thank you, Lady Hestia.'

Hestia stared at the demigod. 'Please, Hestia will do.'

'Hestia then, thank you for the advice and the help, I'll see to it that cabin twenty offers some food from now on.'

'Why thank you, Sam, you're a kind young man.'

Sam blushed. Hestia let out a warm laugh. The fire shone brighter and brighter.

Suddenly Sam found himself standing in the living room with all his stuff. He saw his siblings sleeping in the couches. He smiled and walked up the stairs. When he arrived at the top, he saw Lou sitting in front of his door. She showed a faint smile. He walked over and opened it.

'Let's talk.'


	21. Love Talk and War Talk

**Woohoow, this story has reached the 1.000 views milestone :D I guess updating regularly does influence the numbers. Talking about those: for this month alone the story has over 200 views and 50 visitors and they make me happy. It means people are actually reading this :) But there is also a more downside abou the numbers: they seem to go down after the prologue and fifth chapter (including the prologue), so it got me wondering, why then? My guess is that the prologue might be too revealing or not enough in some way, but then I have no clue as to why views drop after the fifth chapter. Are they not enticing enough? I would really appreciate some feedback on this. I could rewrite them to achieve that.**

 **Then something different. Here's a thank you to This is the real deal for his shout out in the latest chapter of his fic _The Guns of Solomon_ , as I was complimented with this story. If you haven't already, go check out this fic. It's pretty cool and has a different edge to it, PJO with a Supernatural vibe to it. **

**On with the story.**

* * *

 **Chapter 20: Love Talk and War Talk (Gets You A Slap On The Head)**

Sam had a metal aspis strapped to his left arm as he carried the axe with his right hand. John had insisted he'd wear the breastplate from the last Flag game as well. Lou had draped his cloak over his shoulders and wished him good luck before he had departed.

And now he stood next to Mike, his own axe trainer. The Ares camper had invited Sam to the weapons class that morning. After breakfast Sam had joined the other inexperienced fighters for a practice run. The small group consisted mostly of people who fought with melee weapons other than swords and daggers.

'Now class,' shouted Mike over the sword clashes of the sword classes. 'I'll show you what to do against an opponent with more defensive measures.' Mike turned around and swung his axe around to warm up. 'Sam, if you'd like to take a defensive stance.'

Sam lifted up the shield and held the battle axe crossways. Out of the blue, Mike let out a scream and struck the shield. The blow had made Sam flinch. He held as the shockwave coursed through his arm. Mike launched another blow and struck the handle of Sam's axe. Sam grunted as he felt his feet sinking in the sand.

'As you can see, striking the shield has no use. The enemy can still stand, which is crucial for heavy weapon users like some of you. Therefore…' As Mike retreated for another blow, Sam advanced and swung his axe at Mike, who deflected it and thrusted his axe-head against Sam's chest making him gasp for air. In that moment Mike used his axe to trip Sam over and place his blade on Sam's neck. 'You have to wait for an opening,' he finished with a grin.

Sam let out a laugh as Mike helped him back on his feet. He removed the shield and moved his arm to ease the ache.

'Nice action,' said Sam.

'You pick up some skills during a real battle.'

The two walked over to the group of demigods that carried shields and heavy weaponry such as maces, hammers and clubs. Most of them were Ares and Hephaestus campers, but one of the club wielders was Mike, the son of Demeter. George Frobischer had wielded a hammer before joining the group. Ares' Mike paired the demigods as he and Sam took a seat.

'You ready for Friday?' asked Mike.

'As I'll ever be. I hear the Hunters are unbeatable.' Sam took a swig of water mixed with sugar.

'You've heard the truth. We've never won. We came close a couple of times, but nothing worked.'

'That's a bummer, sort of takes out all the fun.'

Mike shrugged and picked up his weapon once again as Sam did the same. They joined the others.

* * *

Later that day Sam sat in the exercise room with Suzan. On the table between them laid the deck of cards and a leather-bound book that Sam was reading.

'So if I understand this correctly, this synchronity is a form of magic that gathers it's power from chances and possibilities,' said Sam not looking up. 'It says here that playing cards were adapted from the minor Arcana tarot cards who in turn were adapted from ancient magical symbols and that they've retained some of their power. That's why tarot is still viewed as a form of magic.'

Suzan hummed affirmatively. 'And that old magic is somewhat branched to my form of magic.'

'The voodoo manipulation?'

Suzan sighed and shook her head. 'Occult magic to be exact. I preform rituals of the occult for magical power.'

'Like controlling someone's mind and such.'

Suzan nodded. 'It seems easy, but isn't. You have to be able to weave magic in such a way that you are able to enter someone's mind. Since it goes against the principle of free will it's labelled as occult. Same goes for the shadow magic.'

'Did it involve a deal with a devil?' asked Sam as he shuffled the cards.

Suzan showed a sly smile. 'Of course it did, but I wouldn't say that to her face.'

Sam placed seven cards neatly in a row. Clubs and spades. 'These represented the elements of fire and air in mysticism and wands and swords in the old magic. Diamonds were earth and symbolised coins or shields. Hearts were chalices and water.'

'The tarots showed possibilities, not the future,' said Suzan. 'It seems that this magic goes back to the basics of magic, the possibility to manipulate our surroundings.'

'Let's try this out,' said Sam as he dealt the cards. 'You know how to play War don't you?'

'Of course I do.'

Over the course of their game, the mages felt the magic stirring around them. The game went on for an hour until Sam won the first game. Suzan distributed the cards again, but felt a different vibe coming from her brother. He seemed to be more at ease. She did notice her own magical powers increasing too.

As they played the second game it became clear that the magic was giving Sam an edge as he won it fairly easily. Suzan used her own magic to counter the effect. As the third round progressed she used her powers to keep track of all the cards. All the kings and queens had been played, until Sam pulled out another King of Clubs.

'You're cheating, aren't you?'

'Am not,' said Sam angrily. 'You're the one who's using magic to keep track.'

'You just played another king and we've had these already.'

Sam looked at his cards. 'I think you might be on to something. I wanted a high card to get that final win. To even out my chances.'

'You switched the cards?'

'Unconsciously, I guess. Why don't you play all the cards and I'll see if I can do something to win.' Sam watched as Suzan shuffled the cards. He yawned.

Suzan divided the cards and played both stacks as Sam watched. As she pulled an ace from her stack, Sam focused on a matching ace to appear from his stack. Suzan pulled out a ace of spades.

'You used your powers, didn't you? The aces were all in my stack, and I made sure that they were.'

Sam nodded. 'I wanted that ace to appear.' He yawned again. 'I also noticed that you used magic to look through the cards, your eyes seemed to change colour. A form of sense enhancement?'

'Very good, young padawan, seems you're picking up on skills. A trick John taught me. I guess we can finish up for today. You seem exhausted, why don't you take a nap?'

Before he could protest Sam yawned again.

'I'll wake you up for the meeting tonight.' Suzan shuffled the cards and put them back in their box.

'Alright.'

Suzan dropped off her brother in his room and made sure he was tucked in. She closed the door and joined John and Lou in the kitchen for their afternoon tea.

'He's definitely liking the magic,' said Suzan. 'It seems to me that he's able to channel his powers through the cards. He even managed to change one of the cards.'

'Any side effects?' asked John.

'He's tired and sleeping as we speak. He'll need some more stamina if he wants to keep it up for a longer period of time.'

'The meeting's tonight, right?' asked Lou. 'You know, the quest thingy.'

John nodded. 'They are going to try figure out to solve the major problems. Sam mentioned the final task as a hard one.'

'Can we do something?' asked Lou.

'You could always ask.'

* * *

Later that night Sam met with Annabeth and Cali to discuss the progress on the quest.

'Rachel is on board and the Hephaestus-cabin has constructed a automaton for the quest. We've been writing the prophecy and designing the questions for the Sphinx,' said Annabeth.

'I figured out a way to get them to separate for the tasks,' said Cali. 'We just need to weave it in the story. It would be a rule for the quest, like no one is allowed to be in more than two tasks before the final fight.'

'Keys,' said Sam. 'The Nemean Lion is locked in a room/cage that unlocks if two keys of each demigod are used. It would also require them to never leave a man behind.'

'I'll get the Apollo cabin to design something,' declared Cali.

Sam noted down the new information. 'About the Sphinx, any idea on how we might achieve that? It's not as if we can get an actual one through the border.'

'I was thinking of dressing up someone to play the role of the Sphinx,' suggested Cali. 'If memory serves me right, you got confronted by it, no?' Cali stared at Annabeth.

'Yeah, but what … Oh no, I'm not doing that.'

'O, come on, you'd be perfect for the role,' exclaimed Sam. 'Have you any idea how scary taking one of your tests is?'

'I'm not getting dressed up as the Sphinx,' said Annabeth with a fierce look in her eyes.

'I'll get you money, free magic or something else.'

'It's not happening, Sam.' The daughter of Athena stared the younger demigods in the eye.

'I'll let you analytically dissect me,' replied Sam after a minute of silence. 'From dawn till dusk I'm yours to test, prod and analyse for science's sake. Don't you want to some more knowledge about the demigod who talks smack to the gods, was late to getting claimed etcetera? Thought you were all about learning.'

The Athena counsellor stared Sam in eye with a her grey eyes that got analytical real fast.

'Deal. From dawn till dusk, on the day of my choice.'

'We'll get you some nice feathers to dress you up,' said Sam with a grin. 'And I've got even better news.'

'What?' asked Cali.

'I found us a goddess who wants to help us out.'

Later Sam and Cali walked to their cabins together. He carried his notebooks and listened to Cali's voice as she talked about her day. She seemed to spend quite some time with Gina and Jane, the daughter of Enyo.

'I saw you getting pummelled this morning,' said Cali. 'I joined the sword fighting class.'

'Yeah, Mike needed a volunteer,' said Sam while shrugging.

'Say that to someone who didn't see you getting your ass whooped,' said Cali with a laugh.

Sam smiled meekly as they arrived at cabin 20. Sam walked up the steps and stood on the porch.

'I'll see you tomorrow then?' said Cali. 'I'll see if I can get something done about those keys.'

'Thanks again for the help, I really appreciate it. See you tomorrow.'

Sam opened the door and entered the cabin as Cali walked to her cabin.

'Did you leave her to walk home by herself?' asked Mia as soon as he closed the door.

Sam saw his sisters looking out the window, while his brothers sat in the couches. John shook his head.

'You told them?'

* * *

'Let's talk.'

The two mages entered the room and Sam turned on the lights. Lou took a seat on his chair as Sam sat down on his bed and popped off his prosthesis. He threw his backpack on his bed and watched his sister getting comfortable on his chair.

'It's allowed to hang up some posters or something,' said Lou as she looked around the room.

'You do realize I wasn't exactly expecting a nice room in a magically enhanced cabin? I only grabbed the necessities to survive the trip to this place and a load of clean underwear.'

Lou Ellen stared at her brother and sighed. 'Listen, about what I said earlier.'

'Yeah?' Sam returned the stare.

'I'm sorry about what I said. It just popped out. I don't know what I meant by it. Gods, I just don't know how many times I have you say it, I'm sorry.'

Sam let out a sigh. 'You did have a valid point, I mean have you seen me? I'm a scrawny kid who misses three quarters of a leg. I'm nearly not as athletic or smart as most people here. Haven't seen many people like myself here.'

'That's because most of us either die young or live long enough to tell stories about those who died,' said Lou.

A silence settled in the room. The two mages stared at the ceiling.

'Lou, what happened in the war?' he asked softly.

Lou got out of the chair and took a seat next to her brother. She leaned against the wall. 'Someone mentioned something, isn't it?'

Sam nodded.

Lou let out a groan. She breathed in and out and wringed her hands. 'Gods be damned. That bloody war cost us too much. I didn't even know all of our siblings by name at the time. Sixteen of us died during that war, eight in the Battle of Manhattan alone. four at Mount Othrys, three on board the Andromeda and one in unknown circumstances.' Lou wiped her eyes. 'I was at the Battle of Manhattan with John, Alabaster and Suzan. We also had George, Mikey, Fiona, Damien, Jack, Simon, Zhora and Bella. We waged war alongside the forces of Kronos, mom and Morpheus had used their powers to keep the mortals out of it. The Council demigods had set up defensive positions to keep the Titan's forces at bay.'

'We walked with the monsters down Manhattan's bridges and roads. We felt powerful, we were thousands strong, on our way to get recognition from the Olympians. At a point we got into a battle with Hephaestus campers and fought in the wake of victory. After they retreated we marched on until we reached a certain point and we breached off. Me, Alabaster, John, Suzan, Mikey, Bella, Damien and Jack continued on to regroup at the UN building. The others joined the army at the Williams bridge. They were children and got drowned or trampled.'

Lou cried for a minute as Sam tried to convince himself not to cry. 'Eventually we reached the UN. We stayed behind for a while as Alabaster convinced us to do something we've sworn to never do again. We used our magical powers to create a powerful spell that would've given us the advantage to win the battle. The fused magic became unstable, we were too inexperienced. It backfired and got some of us killed. Mikey and Jack vanished into thin air as they got engulfed while Bella and Damien got the worst of the blast. Damien died as he fell off the building and Bella…' Lou stopped and sobbed. 'She got stuck under some rubble with her arm torn off. She died in my arms as we tried to console her in her dying moments. She cursed Alabaster with her dying breath. We all eventually did. After the war we roamed around Manhattan for a while until we got invited to join the other survivors of the battle here at camp. You know the rest of it.'

Sam hugged his sister as she cried and cursed in ancient Greek. They just sat there until Lou dried her tears and sat against the wall.

'You gotta admit, this isn't the strong mage you're used to see, isn't it?' she spat bitterly.

'No it isn't. She's just human who went through some horrible shit.'

'Thanks,' she said before blowing her nose.

'You're not the only in this room though.'

'You've mentioned it. The car crash.'

'Yeah the crash,' said Sam. 'What I haven't mentioned was the year after that. The year where I had to learn how to walk again, had no one to talk to, had zero idea I had a bloody family waiting for me at Ancient Greece camp,' he spat.

'We had no…'

'No idea I existed. I spent months in a hospital under the care of social services and nurses and doctors. Have you any idea how it was? To not see friends or existing family, while I had to deal with all of it? I had my dad die next to me as I nearly died of blood loss.' Sam turned to Lou. 'I can't remember how many nights I wished to die. To take away all the pain. There was no one to hold me. Not you, not mom, no one.' Lou ignored his struggles and held him as he started to sob. 'It took me nearly ten months to get out of the hospital and visit his grave. I wasn't even there when someone buried him. Mom wasn't there, nobody.'

'Mom never talked about new siblings,' said Lou. 'I think she never truly recovered from the Battle of Manhattan and never wanted to see it happen again.'

Another silence crept into the conversation. Sam pulled out his headphones and turned up to volume to use them as a pair of speakers. He played Metallica's Black Album.

'For a kid you've got excellent taste in music,' said Lou. 'What else have you got?'

Sam handed her his mp3-player.

'Pretty good, never would've taken you for a Johnny Cash fan.'

'He's got a couple of good songs, same with Adele.'

'Adele and hardcore-punk? That's one strange combo. I ought to introduce you to Thalia, she's the punk and underground-expert here.'

'About Thalia, ain't she supposed to be like your age?'

'Immortality comes at a price. Although there was that time that we were both fifteen and we had a thing. Even thought about joining the Hunters for a moment.'

'You and Thalia? So you're gay? Nothing wrong with that, mom is bisexual, so it fits.'

'It fits? What kind of vulgar use of words is that?'

Sam laughed. 'You really look and sound like mom when you say that.'

'Am not,' said Lou as she smilingly stuck out her tongue. 'And yes, I am a lesbian. I like girls, there I said it.'

'Anyone in particular? You seem get along with a lot of the older female demigods. Harley for example. Or is it a Roman girl that you met at college?'

'Harley, you think Harley and me… Bless your innocence. And what do you mean with older female demigods? Annabeth and Clarisse are in a relationship, Katie and Miranda aren't my type.'

'So Harley is a definite option, but I'm guessing it's a Roman chick,' said Sam with a smile, which got him a punch on the shoulder.

'Don't get all smartass with me, mister I-like-the-girl-I-hurt. Yeah, don't give me that shocked expression, everybody can spot it from a mile away. You like Storm Girl.'

'Do not, she's a friend,' said Sam with a huff.

'Just talk to her, be a gentleman, ask her out. Worse thing that can happen is that she says no and you'll be left with nothing but an awkward relationship.'

'Do you realize that you suck at giving relationship advice?'

'Tell her how you feel, I bet she likes you too.'

'I'll tell her tomorrow, I wanna go to bed now, it's been a rough night.'

'You're brushing your teeth first, mister,' commanded Lou with a stern face. She pointed at his bathroom door.

Sam muttered a curse which got him slap on the back of the head. He yelped as he got out of bed and grumpily put on his prosthesis and went to brush his teeth.

Lou sat on his bed and moved his stuff to his table. A picture fell out of a notebook. She picked it up. It was a picture of Sam holding Sarah in a bear hug while they smiled. Lou pinned the picture to the wall. She tucked in her brother as he crawled into bed.

'Thanks for the talk,' said Sam.

'Ditto.'

She kissed his forehead and turned off the lights before closing his door.

* * *

 **Hope you enjoyed it, please review.**


	22. Capes Are Cool

**I'm back with another chapter :) Views are rising, but sadly the number of reviews is not :( Hope you enjoy this chapter. Next chapter(s) will feature the quest for the young ones :D**

* * *

 **Chapter 21 Capes Are Cool**

He hid behind a tree as he waited for the first Hunter to appear. It had been an hour after the start and he got tired after standing and doing nothing for the last fifteen minutes. His stump itched and he really wanted to scratch it, but that would mean he had to take off his prosthesis. Sam sighed and tried to scratch the spot that was just underneath the edge of his leg.

'That thing really does bother you, doesn't it?' said a voice from the dark.

Sam turned around and tightened his grip on the handle of the battle-axe.

In a smaller clearing stood a Hunter in the moonlight, bronze sword and silver knife drawn. She wore a silver jacket and a pair of cameo trousers. Her eyes were brown, but seemed to radiate fire. Sam knew her as Lianne, a fourteen year old daughter of Ares and knife specialist with the Hunters.

'It does bother me, but not as much as your pig faced head does though.' He smiled as he raised his shield.

Lianne grinned. 'I was told you enjoyed talking smack. Let's get to it, shall we? I know you're not guarding the flag.' She advanced.

Sam raised his shield that had been slightly modified so that it held all thirteen diamond cards with the ace in the middle. After he had returned from the meeting with Cali and Annabeth, Sam had been trapped by his sisters and berated for his un-gentlemen like behaviour. Ronan and John had only snickered and chuckled as they did nothing.

Only after the horrible thirty minutes of getting hammered with things to say and do, had they disappeared. John had mentioned his new found gifts with cards and had shown him how to enchant his cards with abilities. As of that moment, the thirteen diamond cards had been transformed.

Lianne struck his shield, but the magic in the cards softened the blow on Sam's end. He swung his axe at the Hunter, but she easily dodged. Another strike landed on the shield. It shot a jolt of pain through Sam's arm.

Lianne retreated. 'The magic's wearing you out, isn't it?'

Sam grunted and attacked, ignoring her correct assumptions. Although the magic in the cards was pretty powerful, he wasn't. The mantra of "magic is only as powerful as it's user" that was preached by all of his siblings echoed in his head.

Lianne twirled her blades as she easily sidestepped Sam's attacks. The Hunters were indeed some of the best fighters the Greek demigods had to offer. Lianne blocked and rebuffed a strike and sent Sam flailing. He landed on his back. A sharp tip was pointed at his neck the moment after that.

'Not bad, but you still need some training with that thing. Ever thought of using a hammer?' Lianne sheathed her knife. 'So, how do we do this? I knock you out with a single blow or I tie you up?' She retrieved a small coil of climbing rope from her pocket.

'None of those,' he said before he had a jack of clubs in his hand. He grabbed the card and sword. 'Overheat,' he whispered. The card became warm and fused itself to the blade. An orange glow radiated from the card and spread across the weapon.

Lianne pulled back her sword quickly, but the damage had been done. After a few moments she threw away her sword as blisters appeared on her fingertips. The glow disappeared. She stared at where Sam had been moments earlier, but only heard the rustling of leaves.

'I love to hunt,' she said with a feral grin.

Of course the rules of Capture the Flag said no killing, maiming or heavy injuries, but try telling that to a Hunter and daughter of Ares out for blood. Sam ignored the pain in his stump and the ache in his chest as he ran pushing through branches and needles. He heard the sound of Lianne's running footsteps in the distance. If it weren't for that arch nearby, he would've been caught within the first seconds after leaving. Sam thanked Janus in a silent prayer.

'Come on, Sam, you're not going to win this race,' yelled Lianne as an arrow pierced the tree next to where Sam was taking a quick breath.

'Piss off,' he said while grinning. He ran towards where he was to meet Lou if something went south. The noise of swords clashing was getting closer.

Lianne simply holstered her bow and unsheathed both her hunting knives. She continued jogging after the young demigod who ran away. She had no idea how he had managed to get away, the blisters still hurt, but as a daughter of Ares she did have some respect for the kid who charged at her, despite knowing he could not win.

Sam finally found the source of the sword clashes. Lou and Thalia were having their private sparring match and Lou was guarding a blue flag with the symbol of Athena on it. Sam continued his way towards the two as Lianne roared. He managed to break though the final treeline. He could see Lou swinging an unfamiliar sword at Thalia's blade. Sparks jumped whenever they touched.

'She trying to knock my head clean off!' he yelled as Lou blocked Thalia's latest strike.

'Then don't let her,' growled Lou as Thalia pushed back.

Lianne appeared from the forest. She calmly switched out her knife for her sword. The look in her eyes was nothing short of a lioness cornering prey. Sam raised his shield, tightened his grip on the axe and prayed.

* * *

He walked around the camp that they had set up. Lycans shared food with demi-titans and other monsters. Pandora had promised them a better life under her rule of not being hunted by the Hunters or ignored by gods and parents alike. Alabaster had only joined because of the promise of revenge on the gods, especially Zeus who had campaigned the hardest to have him exiled. Without the sporadic visits from Lou and his mother, Alabaster would find himself all alone.

'Hi Stranger,' said Circe as she joined him in his walk.

Alabaster sighed. Ever since Circe had joined their forces, the minor goddess called him Stranger, him being her maternal younger brother who she had never met. She wore a black jacket with a pair of jeans and open sandals. Her green eyes shone brightly.

'Circe,' he spoke curtly.

'Looks like someone hasn't been sleeping well,' said the sorceress while linking her arm though Alabaster's.

'How do you want me to? People are running around like headless chickens and we haven't even solved the god problem.'

'We'll find a way. With Pandora we're the four strongest mages to have joined forces.'

'Please don't tell me that Pandora had allowed Medea to actually participate? She gives me the creeps.'

'Now, now, Stranger, our niece has magical powers just like us and we need her for the ritual.'

'She's a psychotic murderer,' said Alabaster staring at the cyclopes that were building war machines.

'Those are ancient tales, you know how these get twisted with time. Last time I heard of the great Alabaster, he was a general in the army of Kronos and got away by defying the gods. Yet here you are, a twenty something demigod who only wants to return to his siblings. Our siblings.'

'I have unfinished business with my demigod siblings,' spoke Alabaster with a sigh.

'I have some unfinished business with that son of Poseidon and that girl, I had to restart my spa from scratch. I still have bills to pay.'

'Yeah the day those two die, it'll be a feast in Tartarus.'

Circe grinned at the thought. 'You'll be there tonight, right? We're going over the possibilities to keep the gods from intervening with our conquest.'

'I understand Pandora's thirst for blood, but she spoke of resurrecting a Giant for the kick of seeing one in battle, she and Medea deserve each other's insanity.'

'She just wants to make sure we win this war. You've seen what happened to Kronos and Gaea. I just want to be on the winning side for once.'

'So you joined Pandora's forces as a mercenary?' asked Alabaster. 'That's not how I see you. You're a free spirit Circe, get back to that island and you'll be able to live in peace.'

'I am here because I want that, Pandora's victory will get me that.'

'Take it from me, we don't know what this war will bring us.'

Circe shrugged and let go of Alabaster's arm. 'We'll have to wait and see. See you tonight?'

Alabaster nodded.

* * *

Lianne's sword struck Sam's shield and he winced as the pain went up to his shoulder. Lou and Thalia continued to exchange blows. The four of them stood their ground with weapons grinding against one another.

'How much longer?' said Sam between his teeth.

'Give it a couple of minutes,' said Lou. 'They ought to have finished by now.'

'What are you babbling about?' asked Lianne.

'They're a decoy,' said Thalia as she pushed Lou away. 'You were here to keep us busy, weren't you?'

Lou grinned. 'Thought you'd never figure it out. They should have found your flag by now. I'm guessing you went for the clear opening with five archers keeping an eye on the flag and the others scattered around the forest.'

'You've been spying on us,' said Lianne.

'Got to use any method we can to finally wipe that smug look off your faces,' said Lou.

'Lianne get that flag, we might still make it.'

'Out of the way, pipsqueak,' said Lianne. 'Or I'll have to knock you out.'

Sam raised his axe and stared at Lianne and Thalia. 'Make me.'

'Stand down,' ordered Lou. 'They've lost, they can never get across the creek in time.'

Sam lowered the weapon and took a step back. Lianne jumped up the fallen log and reached for the blue flag only for it to shimmer and disappear the moment she touched it. There was nothing but the fallen log and a piece of white cloth dangling from a stick.

Sam stumbled and exhaled. ''Gods, that was hard.' Lou sheathed her sword and handed him a flask of nectar.

'A double decoy, you rats,' spat Lianne.

Thalia grudgingly sheathed her sword. Her electric blue eyes stared at the two mages that stood before her. 'Damned illusions, I had forgotten about those.'

Sam smiled tiredly. 'Fooled you.'

Lianne punched her open hand. 'No fair. I demand a rematch.'

'You can have that if you're here next week,' said Lou.

'Guess we'll be staying another week,' replied Thalia with a grin.

Later that night, the Hunters accepted defeat at the hands of the Athena cabin who had come up with the plan. It actually involved multiple decoys set up by the Hecate cabin across the forest. Several parties had assaulted the Hunters hidden at their flag an managed to keep them occupied as several demigods grabbed and escorted the flag across the creek. Cali had been the one to get it across by using the creek as a weapon.

They sat by the campfire and celebrated the first victory over the Hunters in ages. Marshmallows and drinks were served by the dozens. Cali sat halfway the steps of the amphitheatre with the flag of the Hunters around her neck like a cape. She was talking to Jane, the daughter of Enyo when someone cleared his throat and took a seat.

'Heard you got the flag across the creek,' said Sam. 'Congrats.' He took a sip from his drink.

'Thanks,' replied Cali with a smile. 'Nearly didn't make it though.'

'Hunters are kind off tricky,' said Jane. 'They're like beasts in combat. I'm going to get some marshmallows, want some?'

'Sure,' said Cali. Sam nodded.

'I don't think I have thanked you yet for the help with the quest,' started Sam.

'You don't have to, I'm happy to help. It's something else than mythology classes or sword fighting.'

Sam took another gulp and breathed in. 'I like what you did with your hair. It suits you.'

'Thanks. One of the Aphrodite campers did it for me. It's shorter than what I'm used to, but you don't have many options after your hair gets burned off.'

Sam stared at his feet. 'I'm still sorry for that, it shouldn't have happened. I'm sorry.'

Cali shrugged. 'It did hurt like hell, but at least you helped to fix it. Lou was a bit harsh In your punishment. Have you tried fire magic ever since?'

Sam shook his head. 'Not really, I'm not so sure about it. I did learn a new trick or two though.'

'Show me,' said Cali.

Sam stared at her for a moment. 'Sure.'

He pulled out the deck of cards from his shorts and told Cali to pick three cards and put them back. She did so and after she had shuffled the deck, Sam took back the cards and showed her, her cards.

'No way, how'd you do that? Let me try again.'

Sam grinned as she took out five cards this time.

Sitting a bit further and higher from the two friends sat most of the Hecate tribe, Thalia, Percy and Annabeth. The Hecate siblings were looking at their youngest brother. Ronan grinned.

'You guys owe me hard cold pieces of gold or silver,' he said staring at his siblings. 'What is it, a day?'

'Are you sure you didn't encourage him?' said Mia with a grumble as she handed him a drachma.

'Rules stated that no encouragement was allowed,' said Lou. 'He won fair and square. Sam's going to work for that gold though.'

'Stop bullying him for your own mistakes,' said Suzan with a smirk.

'Girls, don't make me smack your heads,' said John throwing some silver denarii to Ronan.

'There will be no such thing,' said Hecate as she appeared next to Percy, who jumped. The goddess chuckled. 'I've been monitoring him for a while now,' she spoke. 'Seems like he's getting the hang of things.'

'So it seems,' said Lou.

'Is he still not cut out to be a mage?' The goddess stared at her eldest daughter. Thalia tried to move, but the goddess motioned her to stay seated.

'He's going to be the greatest one there is,' replied Lou as she smiled at the sight of Sam using his cards to douse Cali with water. The daughter of the sea goddess stared at her friend with any icy glare that made him run for his life. 'If he doesn't get himself whacked by his girlfriend that is.'

The demigods turned around and saw that Hecate had disappeared. Lou let out a sigh before John slapped her on the back of the head.

'You still deserve those.'

'No need to knock my brain out through my nose,' complained the mage whilst rubbing her scalp.

'Can't lose what you can't have,' said Annabeth with a grin.

'Sod off, Princess Pride. Want me to turn you into a spider again? Last time I did that you cabin crew tried to whack you.'

'Again? When did the first time happen?' asked Percy.

'Last summer if I remember correctly,' said Annabeth. 'Girls night. It was pretty fun, Thalia getting drunk, us playing truth or dare. The pillow fight in our underwear.'

'You guys had a pillow fight?' asked Percy with a slightly glazed look.

'Shut up Seaweed Brain,' said the three girls in unison.


	23. Why Are Quests So Hard?

**This story has reached 1200 + views :D A special thanks to the nameless American who gave this story the first reads of March. Hope you enjoyed the story.** **This chapter is somewhat longer than usual, so I might not do another chapter next week. not to worry, I'll keep on writing this story until it's finished. If I'm lucky I might finish around the end of April.**

 **Hope you enjoy the chapter and please review.**

* * *

 **Chapter 22 Why Are Quests So Hard?**

The conch had sounded earlier than usual for a Sunday morning. Noises were heard throughout the camp. The dining hall filled up with demigods getting ready for a new day at camp. Out of nowhere the sky darkened for a moment and thunder roared through the sky.

The Hecate cabin scanned the room before Sam nodded to Rachel. The Oracle smiled as the first play was set in motion. A gust of wind swept through the pavilion, flames flickered and Rachel started talking with an eerie voice.

 _Stolen from the hearth shall be returned_

 _Before dusk with treasures to be earned_

 _The children so young shall pass the gate_

 _And lose no single mate_

 _Each shall face tasks of two_

 _To face the king of the zoo_

'A new quest?' asked Julia from the Hermes cabin.

'What does it mean?' asked Miles.

'Isn't it obvious?' growled Dionysius. 'Someone has probably stolen something from my father again. He's probably lost his matches again.'

'We only have a day,' said Malcolm from the Athena cabin. 'Who's going?'

'The youngest of us have to go "the children so young", said Flora as she grabbed Lily and Rose closer.

'They will not,' said Chiron. 'They are too young.'

'They will have to,' said Hestia walking out of the fire. 'The one who has stolen from Olympus has guarded them with foul magic. Only demigods that are younger than ten can go through the gate.'

The demigods bowed their heads as Hestia spoke.

'We have no other choice,' said Dionysius. 'The hearth of Olympus needs the fire to survive. Without Olympus, we fall apart.'

'Young ones, please reveal yourselves. Stand up.'

Eight demigods stood up as the others remained seated. They went over to the goddess.

'I will explain what happened. Someone has stolen six pieces of coal from the hearth, these are not regular pieces of coal. They are embedded with divine magic that keeps Olympus strong. Without them, Olympus cannot live.'

'We need to get them back before sundown,' said Harry.

Hestia nodded. 'The six pieces have been spread around camp, but only you can exit this pavilion. You will need to face every task, but you need everyone for the final one.'

The demigods nodded.

'They'll need weapons and armour,' said Jason. 'Ricky isn't leaving this place without it.'

'Neither is Tiffany,' said Piper.

'That can be arranged,' said Chiron.

Sam grinned as the wooden weapons that had been enchanted to resemble actual metal weapons appeared before the children alongside custom breastplates and helmets. Harry's bow and arrows had been childproofed as well. Each cabin helped their demigod into the armour and gave their champion some advice.

Hestia gave the demigods a map and wished them good luck before disappearing in the fire once more.

The demigods examined the map. Six locations had been marked.

'We have to go to the amphitheatre , combat arena, the forges, the Big House, the beach and the lyceum,' said Harry.

'Maybe we should go to each one to find out what we're up against?' said Tiffany.

'We'll check out the arena, the amphitheatre and the beach,' said Ricky.

'Alright, let's split up. Kim and Jimmy, you go to the amphitheatre,' said Tiffany. 'I'll take Lily and Rose and Finn to arena, Harry and Ricky, you go to the beach. We have until dusk, so let's hurry.'

The young ones said goodbye to their older siblings, grabbed their weapons and left in different directions.

As soon as they left, the team came into action.

* * *

Tiffany and the others arrived at the arena, but found it closed off with thick steels bars. As they drew their weapons the group went closer. After a few moments they found the main entrance closed off with a special lock.

'That's weird,' said Finn as he stared at the lock. 'It has no keyhole.' He traced the lock with his fingers.

'What are those?' asked Lily. She pointed at the fourteen disks surrounding the inner markings.

'They look like coins,' answered Rose. 'Look, those are Demeter's.' She pointed at the two coins that bore sickles, the power symbol of Demeter.

She touched it and it fell out of its slot. A mechanical sound was heard. 'Finn?'

'The lock just locked itself,' replied the son of Hermes. 'The coins are the keys. We'll need them to unlock this again.'

'Let's take them with us,' argued Tiffany as she picked up the two coins that bore doves and roses.

'So, we'll need the coins later on?' asked Harry as the group had regrouped at the pavilion. Each demigod had received the coins that bore his or her parent symbol of power. 'But we also need them to accomplish the tasks.'

'We need to complete the tasks and retrieve the coins,' said Jimmy as he toyed with his coins that bore Hades' helmet.

'You guys mentioned that the arch leading to the beach had been closed off,' said Finn.

Ricky nodded. 'There was a force field and the archway had a weird lock added to it. It had three holes that require coins.'

'I say we start completing the tasks. We have about ten hours to completing this quest,' warned Harry.

'Where to first?'

'The beach.'

* * *

They placed their first coins in the slots and walked through the archway. The sea was rough and winds blew across the beach. Ricky was the first to draw his weapon, a sword, whereas the Demeter twins picked up their scythes and Finn drew his dagger. They walked towards the small boat that had been dragged ashore by the person who sat by a small fire. He was dressed in a waistcoat, breeches and wore a hat and had a wooden leg that had a leaf sticking out of.

'Who are you?' asked Ricky.

The person looked up and grinned. 'Is this what the gods send after me? Pipsqueaks?'

Ricky lifted up his weapon. 'We're demigods sent on a quest.'

'We're here to kick your butt,' said Rose.

'We want that piece of coal,' said Finn pointing his dagger at the flames.

'I am Janus, pirate and king of the Seven Seas, who are you?'

The demigods introduced themselves.

'Son of Zeus eh, should've known my uncle would have his children to retrieve his stuff.'

'Uncle? Are you a child of Poseidon?'

'Aye,' grinned Sam as Janus. 'He blessed me and my ship to sail the seven seas unharmed. As long as I can return to sea I am free to roam wherever I want. And with those pieces of coal I'll be rich.'

'Olympus will fall without those. Give it back,' said Lily.

'Or else what?'

'We kick your butt and steal your boat,' said Rose.

'Steal my boat,' yelled Sam in laughter with his disguised voice. 'I like your spirit kid. Say what, if you each manage to beat me two times in a duel, I'll give you my piece of coal and a clue as to get to the other pieces. If not, you come with me on my boat and Olympus will fall.'

The demigods stared at each other and nodded.

'Let's do this.'

'The first duel is a duel of luck. We play a single round of War,' said Sam as he patted the seat next to him. 'Who goes?'

'I will,' said Finn with a glint in his eyes.

A couple of moments later Finn won the game. Sam had seen him cheat by shuffling some cards, but decided not to say anything as the young ones were happy and gave each other a high five.

'Second duel, a duel of skill. We cook these fish and potatoes. One of you shall be the judge by a blind tasting.'

'We'll do it,' said the twins. 'We'll kick your butt in no time.'

Sam waved his hand and a couple of potatoes and fish came floating out of the sea and boat. The twins immediately took Finn's dagger and started working. They skewered the fish and potatoes and held them above the fire. As Sam saw that he was going to lose, the smell of the roasted fish made him hungry, he came up with a plan. He motioned at the fire and suddenly a stream of water knocked the twin's food out of the fire and onto the sand. Sam retrieved his own food just in time.

'I win as you have nothing to show,' said Sam with a smirk.

'You cheated,' yelled Rose as she kicked sand in the doused fire.

'I beat you using nothing but my own powers, I win,' said Sam as he stood. 'Now son of Zeus, let's have our duel.' Sam unsheathed the sabre.

Ricky nodded and stepped forward. Lily stopped him and whispered something in his ear. Ricky drew his blade.

'Bring it, old man.'

Sam grinned as he stepped forward. The transformation by the Aphrodite cabin had done its job.

The fight was somewhat one sided. Sam did nothing but defend as Ricky attacked him relentlessly. After a while Sam noticed his attacks getting slower, so he flicked the sword and managed to disarm Ricky.

'Now,' yelled Ricky. He moved his hand.

Sam suddenly felt his wooden leg move from under him, sending him sprawling. A gust of wind held him down. The vines grew and bound his hand to his ankle as he saw the demigods grab the piece of coal and weapons. Rose stuck out her tongue as Lily smirked.

'You rotten kids, you'll never make it!' he yelled as the demigods disappeared.

'That was fun,' said a voice.

'Untie me, will you,' growled Sam. 'Should've known they would do that.'

Cali chuckled as she appeared. She held Annabeth's cap and drew her dagger.

* * *

'So, we only get two chances to complete the tasks?' asked Harry no one in particular. They were in the area of the forges as they had spotted their next task. A lonesome automaton. As the others had walked through the archway, their coins had been released but turned black. They had started to divide themselves across the task at hand as the amphitheatre had a box with a special lock on it. Kim was going to do that one, as well as Finn, which meant that he would be unavailable for other tasks.

Tiffany, Jimmy and Kim slid their coins into the lock of the bullpen that held the automaton. It was a man with tank threads for feet. The pen was covered by a magical force field.

'It seems easy,' said Kim, the dark haired daughter of the blacksmith. 'He's not moving.'

'Too easy,' said Tiffany as she drew her dagger.

Jimmy drew his Stygian sword and waited as Kim approached the machine.

'There's fire radiating from his chest,' said Kim. 'I guess that's where the coal is.' She removed her hammer from her belt.

Suddenly the automaton whirred to life. His eyes opened. His head faced Kim. 'Daughter of metal, face your doom.' The automaton swung his arms at Kim. They were extendable.

Kim dodged the first one and deflected the second one by whacking it with her hammer.

The automaton turned its head around and spotted the other two. He raced towards Jimmy, leaving big tracks in his wake. Jimmy waited a second before planting his sword into the ground a fissure opened just under the automatons wheels, causing it to flip over.

A victorious yell escaped Jimmy's lips, Tiffany gave him a high five. As Kim joined them, the automaton's head turned around once more. It's eyes seemed to glare at Jimmy. 'Daughter of metal, you need to die.'

'Jeez, nice to meet you too,' sighed Kim as she raised her hammer.

'Hey, tin can on wheels,' yelled Tiffany. The blonde daughter of Aphrodite muttered something and changed her appearance in that of Kim.

'Daughter of metal, you must die,' droned the automaton as he advanced to Tiffany.

'Hey tinhead, I'm over here,' yelled Kim. She waved

The automaton stopped and turned his head to look at the two images of Kim. 'There can't be two daughters of metal.'

'Of course not,' said Tiffany approaching Kim. 'But which one of us is the real one? You don't want to kill the wrong one. You know what happens with faulty automatons.'

'Automaton needs to function correctly,' said the automaton. 'Destroy the daughter of metal. Must destroy the daughter. Must finish task. Finish task correctly.' It attacked one of the Kims.

Tiffany blocked the blow and growled as Kim moved towards the machine and knocked on a bolt. Sparks flew and a cracking sound was heard. The machine let go of Tiffany and focused on Kim. Tiffany threw her dagger at its head, but it bounced off. Kim knocked on another bolt. Another sounds was heard.

Jimmy struck the ground once more and thrusted a jagged piece of stone into the cracks, separating the body from the wheels with a deafening screech. The automaton laid on its back with its wheels jammed under the rock.

'Automaton out,' said Kim before knocking it out and removing the piece of coal from its chest.

The three took a breath and stared at the defeated enemy.

'Two down, four to go.'

* * *

The box itself was the lock as the three coins opened it. Suddenly a force field kept the others at bay. Finn, Harry and Kim studied the second box that was in it. It was locked with a six letter word. It was a grey box which featured scenes from mythology on each side of the box. They were scenes from the old tales: Achilles getting shot in the heel, Hercules slaying the Hydra, Perseus holding the head of Medusa, Bellerophon riding Pegasus and Jason walking around on a sandal while crossing a river with an old lady.

'These are all stories, tales of legend,' said Kim.

'Not all feature monsters,' said Harry. 'Nor do the gods appear in all of them. Damnit, I'm missing something.'

'They are all demigods,' said Finn. 'Maybe same parent?'

Harry shook his head. 'Athena is the only one that fits and that didn't work. Besides Hercules is a son of Zeus. Do you even study?'

'Do you know how to not study?' asked Finn.

'Boys,' said Kim. 'I've figured out the answer.'

Harry stared at her. 'What?'

'Heroes. They're all heroes in the ancient myths.'

Harry moved the letters until the word was spelled the lock popped open and they retrieved another box.

The next box was a dodecahedron made of pure metal and with no visible locks. Kim held it in her hands and turned it around. She closed her eyes and focused.

'I need your help,' she said. 'Finn, hold your fingers on these parts; Harry, you do the same.' She guided their fingers as she placed her own on opposite sides. 'Now press hard.'

Six parts clicked and slid inwards. The box opened and revealed the next box. Finn took it out of the "weird football" as he called it and stared at it. The box was a perfect cube with a neat keyhole on one side. Finn examined the other sides. Each side featured the words key and hole, but in different languages: English, French and Spanish. He grinned. The keyhole should be the French word for key.

'Clé,' he muttered.

The box opened and a piece of coal revealed itself.

'Halfway there,' Finn said triumphantly clutching the piece of coal.

* * *

They sat in the classroom. The twins had been ordered to pass their own test individually just like anyone else.

The woman walked through the rows of seats. Well not exactly a woman, she wore a cloak, but had a lions tail sticking out from under it. The woman stared at each test.

'You've got ten more minutes,' declared the woman with a sharp voice. Harry had correctly assumed that this was a Sphinx. Something Sam hadn't.

 _'_ _What do you mean, no feathers?' he said with a shock._

 _'_ _The Sphinx is a lion's body with the head of a woman. The wings belong to the Egyptian sphinx,' said Annabeth with a grin as she was prepared for her role._

 _'_ _Aw that sucks,' sulked Sam. 'I really wanted to see you with feathers on your head.' He walked towards the door._

 _'_ _I really want to see you strapped to my table while I slice you open.'_

 _Sam had stopped dead in his tracks and turned to the Athena counsellor who stared at him with a wicked grin on her face._

 _'_ _Annabeth,' warned Piper. 'Stop scaring him.' Piper adjusted the wig and used some Aphrodite magic to transform the gloves into actual lion paws._

'Time,' declared the woman. 'Hand in your tests.'

'No riddles?' said Tiffany.

'They became too known,' said the Sphinx. 'Now, be silent as I correct these.'

'Who is the Roman god of borders,' whispered Tiffany to Harry. 'Janus, right?'

Harry shook his head. 'Terminus.'

'Oh crap.'

'Silence,' shrieked the Sphinx. 'Aha, it seems we have our first dinner. Who is Rose?'

Rose slowly raised her hand.

'You made a mistake my dear. Festus means happy, not festive. I think I'll keep you as my dessert. Tiffany?'

The daughter of Aphrodite looked up. 'Yes?'

'You made two mistakes, that means I'll eat you first. The other two may go.'

'We're not,' said Rose. 'I won't.'

'Neither will I,' said Harry.

Annabeth rose and sighed. 'Fine, I'll eat all of you. it would be a waste of talent, but if you insist.'

'No you will not,' said Tiffany. 'Sit down.'

Annabeth laughed. 'Many have tried my dear, but none have succeeded.'

Tiffany closed her eyes and breathed in and out. 'Sit down,' she spoke harshly.

Annabeth felt her knees move, she tried to remain standing.

'I said: Sit down, you miserable woman,' snapped Tiffany. Beads of sweat formed on her forehead.

Annabeth didn't have to fake it. Her legs moved and so did her knees. She found herself sitting down.

'Harry, pick up the coal,' said Tiffany. 'You will not harm the child of Athena. Girls, let's go.'

Harry quickly swiped the coal off of her desk and followed the others as they ran outside.

Annabeth breathed out as she felt her legs relax.

* * *

Jimmy and Ricky stood in front of the Big House. The once welcoming house at camp now seemed a place of doom and gloom. The final task involved them going up to the attic and retrieve the final piece for coal before they could fight the King of the Zoo, which most likely was a lion, so it would be a Chimera or The Nemean Lion.

The two demigods drew their weapons and took another look at the others who were standing at a distance of the house. Jimmy nodded and grabbed the doorknob. Ricky lifted his sword and walked inside. The room was the same as always except there was no light, so shadows covered the room. Jimmy entered the room and the front door slammed shut. Ricky jumped slightly.

'Don't panic,' said Jimmy. 'I can see just fine, just follow my lead.'

'I didn't panic,' said Ricky with a huff.

The two demigods walked towards the next door that lead to the staircase. Jimmy went through first, Ricky went second. In that split moment Ricky had realized that he was no longer in the Big House, but somewhere else. It was dimly lit room.

'Jimmy?'

'Jimmy can't hear you,' said a voice from the shadows. 'You're all alone.'

'Who are you?' said Ricky a little high pitched. He raised his sword.

'That is not important, little boy. I know you and that is the only thing that matters.'

Ricky slowly made his way across the room, towards the only door that he could see.

'You're afraid, aren't you? Do you want me to take that away? I can help. You're afraid that the others won't like you because you're the son of Hades.'

'Ricky?' asked Jimmy. 'Where are you?'

'He's not here,' said the voice.

Thalia stood in the small room next to the one where the boys were walking around. She watching them through a two way mirror and was manipulating the Mist so that it seemed that the boys were all alone. Next to her stood Nico Di Angelo. The demigod had arrived in the middle of the night to surprise everybody, but since preparations were in place for the quest, his arrival had been met with a quick hello from everybody. He had offered his services and he had received the role of "Creepy Voice in The Big House", a role that was perfect for him as he used his 'creepy Ghost King voice' so well according to Thalia.

The voice continued to taunt the children by showing them their biggest fears through the Mist. Ricky was shown his father not deeming him worthy to be a son of Zeus while Jimmy was shown his fear of losing his friends due to him being a son of Hades.

Ricky screamed at the voice. 'Stop it!' He raised his sword and slashed at the shadows until he reached the door. Jimmy ignored the voice by stating that he would keep his friends safe by being a son of Hades.

'Stupid voice,' he said before walking through the door and joining Ricky.

The friends almost attacked each other until they realized they had made it. The attic was only one staircase away. They quickly ran to the attic, grabbed the piece of coal and destroyed a dummy that had scared them before returning to their friends who waited for them.

'You've made it,' said Harry. 'We were worried. You've been gone for ages.'

'Do we still have time?' asked Jimmy.

'An hour till dusk,' replied Kim.

* * *

The demigods walked to the arena and placed the coins in the slots. The lock clicked open. They drew their weapons and made sure everybody was wearing their armour properly before they entered the arena.

The arena was empty besides the Nemean Lion that paced around. On the bleachers sat all the other demigods.

'What happened?' asked Finn Julia.

'We don't know,' she lied. 'We suddenly got transported here. There's a barrier, so we can't help you.'

'Kick some monster butt,' said Jason which got him a cheer from the entire audience.

'We will,' said Ricky. 'As a team, as demigods.'

'As questers,' said Finn as he aimed his dagger at the lion.

Sam sat beside Cali and George watching the final part of his quest. The Nemean Lion was better than he had hoped. It's fur was like actual gold. The beast actually looked as if he viewed the demigods as an afternoon snack. The Hephaestus crew had done a splendid job.

'It wasn't just us, you know,' said George as if he read his mind. 'We had some help from the Apollo cabin and yours as well. Lou enchanted the Lion to make it more lifelike.'

'She did?'

Sam turned around to look for Lou and found her sitting next to Annabeth. She smiled as she spotted him. Sam mouthed a thank you. Lou only smiled some more.

The Nemean Lion roared as the demigods approached it.

'Hey, Sam,' said Leo Valdez. 'I'm sorry about the delay, but we have the Lion up and running. There was a short circuit. We'll have him here in a couple of minutes.'

Sam stared at the Hephaestus counsellor with a puzzled look. 'What delay? The Lion's right there.' He pointed at the Lion and the young ones.

'Sam,' said Leo. 'That's not our Nemean Lion.'

'What do you mean, "that's not our Nemean Lion?"' asked Sam as he jumped up. Cali and George followed suit.

Sam stared at Leo, then the demigods and back.

Down in the arena, the Lion roared again.


	24. Quests Are Not A Game

**The next chapter is here. It is the last chapter to deal with the quest for now and continues on building for the later chapters and final story arc which I willl begin writing soon. Hope you enjoy it.**

* * *

 **Chapter 23 Quests Are Not A Game**

The beast charged at the demigods, but they managed to keep out of its way. Sand flew up as the beast landed and turned back around.

'Harry,' yelled Annabeth. 'Keep away from the beast!'

'What do you think we're trying,' he replied firing his first arrow at the beast. The projectile bounced off of the Lion's fur.

The beast turned its attention to the son of Athena and advanced with what seemed a grin on its face.

Sam grabbed his battle-axe as George and Cali geared up as well. All around him demigods searched for weapons and ways to fight their way through the shield. The main problem was that the shield hadn't been part of the plan.

'Lou, John, how do we fix this?' he asked his oldest siblings. The entire cabin had joined him.

'There's something off about this shield,' said John. 'The magic feels like nothing else. As if a god had placed it here.'

The Hecate cabin had joined in and were conversing on how they could solve it. They grabbed each other's hand and guided their energy to John and Lou.

'This is not good,' muttered Lou. 'John's right. This is divine magic. A god has put this here. We can't undo it, but we might be able to open it up for a moment. This is expert level magic, there aren't many of us who could pull this off.'

'We'll go in,' said Percy gesturing at himself and Clarisse who was wielding her spear.

'You remember how to kill it right?' asked Annabeth.

'Mouth and eyes,' replied Percy with a grin while uncapping Riptide.

'My quest, my lion, my problem,' said Sam twirling his axe in his hands.

'Our problem,' countered Cali sharpening Sternbane.

'The two of you are not going down there,' said Annabeth. 'Let us deal with it.'

'Suzan,' said Sam, ignoring the daughter of Athena. 'Can you manipulate the Mist and the kids to make them believe that they are still fighting the beast?' No response. 'Well, can you?'

'Yeah, I should be able to do that,' replied the mage with a puzzled look. 'What are you playing at?'

'Don't let them see me,' replied Sam strapping on his shield. 'We keep the illusion intact. Once we kill the Lion, we bring in the fake one and let them fight it.'

'You're not ignoring me,' growled Annabeth grabbing his shoulder and pushing him back down. 'You're not fighting that thing. You're not…'

'Not what?' asked Cali standing. 'A fighter? A champion of Olympus?'

Annabeth let go of Sam's shoulder. She stared at the others. 'Aren't you going tell them not to?'

'I can't control the kid,' said Percy. 'I'm only an uncle, not a dad.'

Lou shrugged. 'He's as stubborn as the rest of us. His quest, his problem. Let them try it, if they fail, we'll save their butts and we have leverage.'

'Wh..What?' Annabeth stared at her friends in bewilderment. 'Are you serious?'

'Let them go in.'

'Guess I'll join you guys too,' said George pulling out a battle hammer from his pouch. 'My lion, my hammer.'

'Our lion,' corrected Cali.

'You guys,' pleaded Annabeth.

They all ignored her pleas and managed to dispel the shield for a moment letting Sam, Cali and George in to face the lion. As they landed in the sand, Eve joined them as well. The daughter of Apollo drew her bow and notched an arrow. Suzan had cast a spell and was guiding the younger demigods away from the Lion as the other approached it.

'What are you guys doing?' asked Eve keeping her eyes and arrow on the Lion who was slowly making his way towards the younger demigods.

The three friends stared at her for a moment and to each other. They lowered their weapons.

'We wanted to defeat the Lion,' said Sam with a small voice. 'I think.'

'I wanted to show Annabeth that we could do what they did,' said Cali. 'To prove things, you know.'

'Yeah,' said George. 'I was tired of hearing about their adventures and victories, I wanted my own.'

'Well, knuckleheads,' said Eve. 'You're about to get your five minutes of fame and get us all killed.'

The lion had walked against the shield that Sam's siblings had raised to separate the lion from the children. It roared as it touched the shield. Sam's group had seen the younger demigods being led away from the lion out of the arena before the Nemean Lion had turned towards them and had roared once more.

'Lou, snap out of it,' said Annabeth. 'They'll be shredded to bits.'

Lou stared at Athena's daughter and frowned. 'What are you talking about?'

Annabeth pushed her friends head towards the scene of the Lion moving towards the group of four. 'See, you stubborn goat.'

'What in gods's name?'

* * *

'Our plan has worked,' said Circe. 'We managed to get the Nemean Lion inside.'

'It isn't that hard when you're using your charmspeaking abilities,' said Alabaster. 'That girl never knew what hit her. But their bickering might be useful to us. Divide and conquer.'

The sorceress and mage sat at the table in the main tent where they were discussing their progress. They had found the solution to their god problem and the possible location of Pandora's pithos. Opposite them sat the goddess Khione and Iris.

'How will this help us?' asked Iris. 'We still need to fight their army to destroy the camp and find the pithos.'

'They have bad memories of traitors at camp,' said Alabaster. 'The Titan War was started by one of their own. They'll do anything to find the one responsible for the intrusion of the monster.'

'The mages have already deduced that a god was responsible for the barrier and they'll figure out who was behind it pretty soon. They are too good,' said Circe. 'If we want to take out that camp, we need to neutralize the mages and the members of the Seven.'

Pandora looked at the four of them and cleared her throat. 'Have you any idea on how to get our hands on a Giant?' Her eyes flickered in the torchlight.

'There is old magic that could resurrect them, but it requires a massive amount of energy,' said Circe. 'It would be unwise to waste our resources on them.'

'Are you doubting my strategy?' asked Pandora raising an eyebrow.

'We should focus our magic on getting us to camp and to have the camp defenceless in the first place,' said Circe. 'When the camp is wiped off of the face of the earth we can move in on Olympus. If I may be so rude my lady, I would advise keeping the Giants for the final assault on Olympus.'

'The Giants will crush their children first. No gods means to chance in defeating the Giants,' said Pandora decisively. 'Khione, have you had any success in finding gods that will join us?'

The goddess of snow shook her head. 'Unfortunately not my lady. They all don't like the Olympians, but none so much as they fear them. They are after all the ones who destroyed the Titans and Giants. Twice.'

'Be gone all of you, do not return before you've something good to tell me. Send in Medea, we have things to discuss.' Pandora waved her hand and the chairs moved backwards.

The four of them stood up and exited the tent. Alabaster and Circe walked off in one direction and whispered to each other.

'She's going mad,' said Circe.

'She is mad,' replied Alabaster as they walked by the cyclops that finished their work on a battering ram.

* * *

Eve let another arrow fly, but the lion slapped it out of the air. George and Sam had raised their weapons and advanced by the flanks as Cali approached the beast up front. The lion was the size of a small pick-up truck.

'How are we going to do this?' asked George. 'We need to aim for his eyes, mouth or suffocate him like Hercules did.'

'I'm not going near that thing,' said Eve. 'He's protecting himself from my arrows by moving his head.'

'Suffocating is not really an option, so I say we go for the mouth,' yelled Sam as he narrowly dodged a swipe from the beast. He got back on his feet and raised his shield.

'Any ideas to keep him occupied?' asked Cali as she slid backwards in the sand after a hit from the Lion. Her shield was mangled. She dropped it.

'I've got one. Anyone know how we can keep his mouth open?' asked Sam.

'My hammer has a telescopic handle,' said George. 'If we can get it in, we can extend it to keep his mouth open.'

'Get it done,' said Sam as he unstrapped his shield and threw it to Cali who caught it.

Sam breathed in and exhaled before grabbing his cards. He let the magic seep in to their very core until they became unstable.

'Hey, kitty cat,' he yelled before throwing his entire deck at the beast. The beast roared and jumped at him, a moment before the magic exploded. Sam was thrown against the barrier, while the Lion was thrown backwards. Sam slowly crawled back up as the Lion shook sand out of its mane. The beast roared.

'Got your attention? Good.' Sam snapped his fingers and flames appeared in the palms of his hands. Sam muttered a spell and the flames turned into fire balls. He threw the first one at the Lion, but it didn't bother the beast as the ball bounced off of its pelt. It picked up speed, and lunged at the demigod it thought of as a tasty snack. Mid-air, it bounced off of another shield.

'Yeah, I know how to do that too,' said Sam with a grin and his hand stretched out before him. 'How's the plan going, guys?'

'A little longer,' answered Cali as she held the folded hammer in her hand. Her arm was covered in two layers of armour. 'So I stick my arm in its mouth, push the button and Eve gets to shoot it full with arrows, why am I feeling that this isn't such a fair deal?'

'I'll give you some personal archery lessons?'

'Deal. Sam, we're ready. Could you keep him steady?'

'Sure,' replied the mage as blood trickled down his nose. His legs ached and so did his chest. He focused and made fire appear around the lion, which made him angrier. Sam only replied by having fire right in front of its eyes. The Lion seemed to calm down for a moment, as if it feared something. 'Guys, I won't be able to keep this up for much longer.'

Cali advanced on the lion, when she was right in front of it, Sam fell into the sand and breathed heavily. The fire disappeared. The instant that happened, the beast roared. Cali jumped up, stuck her arm in the mouth and pushed the button, before crashing onto the arena floor. The beast was surprised that it couldn't close its mouth, but it didn't have much time to think. Five sharp arrow heads buried themselves into the back of his mouth in rapid succession. Moments later, it vanished in a cloud of gold dust, leaving nothing but it's pelt and a claw.

The three others helped Sam back on his feet and the four of them watched the spectators cheering them on.

Later that day, the younger demigods had given back all pieces of coal and were rewarded with bags of candy, their coins and pouches made by Hestia. They gratefully thanked the goddess for her gift before the first yawns appeared. After dinner all of them got escorted to their respective cabins and bed by their counsellors and handlers.

Annabeth tucked in Harry. On his nightstand laid the pouch that held his coins. He had hidden his candy somewhere none of his siblings could find it.

'Annabeth, I don't understand,' he said with a small voice. 'Why were the coins there? They didn't serve any real purpose. They weren't magical. And how did that pirate get through our borders and the lion?'

'You don't have to think about that now, Harry. Just close your eyes and go to sleep,' she said softly before turning off the big light, but leaving on his night light. She walked out of the cabin and joined Jason on her way back to the dinning pavilion.

'Ricky asleep?'

Jason nodded. 'Barely had any energy left to brush his teeth. Harry?'

'Same, although he might be on to the fact that it's all a setup, he's bright for his age.'

'Comes with the heritage doesn't it?'

Annabeth shrugged as they arrived at the pavilion where Chiron was clearing his throat.

'Alright, alright, settle down. I would like to have you listen to something.' Chiron stopped speaking and held his glass. No one made a sound. 'The sweet sound of silence with no young ones running around.'

'Hear, hear,' said Dionysius with a grin.

'We toast to Sam Parker and his plan.' Chiron raised his glass. 'Sam?'

Sam stared at the centaur and glanced at the people staring at him. 'Eh.' John made him stand while Ronan handed him is glass. 'I'll try to keep this short as I can barely stand. Thanks, I guess, but it wasn't all me. If you want to thank me, also thank Cali for the support, George and the Hephaestus cabin for the metal work, Eve, Donnie and the other handlers for their approval of the plan, Thalia and Nico for their help at the Big House, Lou for the Lion's enchantments,' Sam nodded to each of them. 'Lady Hestia for her help as goddess in need.' Sam bowed a little towards the goddess who sat next to Mister D. 'And of course the Athena cabin for their help with the puzzles and organisation.' He put his glass to his lips. 'Oh and to Annabeth Chase for her splendid role as The Sphinx, although I wished I could've seen her with feathers on her head.' He grinned at that last statement before downing his glass in a single gulp.

'You're still mine for an entire day,' said the Athena head counsellor with an equal grin. 'It won't be tomorrow, but one day you're mine.'

Sam only nodded as he took his seat and attacked his dessert. He found his cabin mates staring at him. 'What? Is there chocolate on my face?'

'Exploding cards and fire magic, no wonder that we had to feed you nectar to get you to the infirmary,' said John. 'So, are you going to tell us about it?'

'Fire magic is a gift from Hestia, the exploding cards are just my kind of magic,' he said before taking another scoop of chocolate pudding. 'You know, unstable and rough magic?'

'That's not funny Sam,' said Jade.

* * *

At the moment of midnight, about twenty figures walked towards the Big House for the emergency meeting that had been discussed the moment the Lion was defeated. All head counsellors appeared on the porch before Dionysus let them in and directed them to the War Room. The moment they were all seated, Chiron spoke.

'We have a spy for Pandora in the camp. As far as we know, they are also working with Circe. It seems Pandora is making her move.'


	25. Silver Fury

**The next chapter is here :D With views a hair away from 1400, I present you with the latest episode in the camp life of Sam. Some final ground works are introduced for the final arc of this story. Hope you enjoy :D**

 **PS: Guess reading the PJO book in translation isn't the best thing to do. Turns out I've been misspelling Gigantes as Giants for the entire time, probably missed some other things as well. I'll try to fix them when i've go soem more time on my hands.**

* * *

 **Chapter 24 Silver Fury**

They were at the arena, trying to get him used to using magic for longer periods. The Hecate cabin had claimed the arena for the entire morning as a training ground. Lou and her sisters watched the boys keeping themselves busy by entertaining each other with magic.

'Oi, lazy bums,' shouted Jade. 'Aren't you supposed to be doing something?'

'We're playing a card game,' replied Sam without turning around.

The three mages sat at a table playing a magic fuelled game of Texas Hold'em poker played with snacks instead of hard cash as the boys were "greedy little moneypinchers" as Lou called it. From the looks of it, Sam was winning.

'I fold,' said Ronan as he dropped his cards and ate one of his Cheetos.

'Raise, two Cheetos,' said John.

'Call. Show me. Flush.' Sam smiled as John dropped his cards and showed a three of kind. Sam reaped his rewards.

'I'm done,' said John as he ate his final snacks.

'You're all done,' said Suzan. 'Time for some actual work. You,' she pointed at Sam. 'Sit and learn.'

Sam nibbled on his Cheetos as Jade and Suzan started their lessons of the day.

'You're still drilling him?' asked Thalia as she took a seat next to Lou.

Lou nodded. 'He still needs to learn several things before we can give him his sigil.'

'He can kick your ass any day, but you still consider him not ready? You got yours the day you walked across the border.'

'What have you been drinking? Kick my ass? I can break him with a snap of my fingers if I wanted to.'

Thalia grinned. 'You're so easy to tick.'

'Shut up,' huffed Lou.

Sam ate his snacks as he tried to process everything being explained to him. For the past three days his siblings had been teaching him all sorts of things about magic. He suspected that Lou and John were trying him out for his personal sigil. These past day he had learnt more about transformational magic and Jade's shamanism.

 _'_ _So you contact and contract spirits into lending you their powers. And in return you do things for them?'_

 _Jade nodded. 'It's pretty common for mages, but the others don't seem to bother with it. Currently I have four spirits.' Jade showed him a bracelet with four silver charms. A bull, a pair of wings, a skull and an arrowhead._

 _'_ _Each charm contains a spirit?'_

 _'_ _Yes, but they can be stored in everything. Shoes, weapons, clothing. You just need to make a connection. I can wield three of them together without too much effort though. I can teach you the basics if you want.'_

 _'_ _Hell yes, it would be awesome.'_

Sam shivered at the thought of the eagle spirit taking over his body so that he could fly. Although the power was awesome to feel, he couldn't shake the feeling that the foreign spirit was pulling him into something. Jade had told him that it was normal and he would be able to ignore that feeling if he used more spirits.

'You paying attention?' asked Suzan. 'Your score on the scoreboard could use some extra credit.'

Sam groaned. 'That thing is so unfair. Lou rigged it.'

Suzan only chuckled.

* * *

After lunch the Hecate cabin joined the others for the tournament that was scheduled that afternoon. An all weapons included tournament designed to keep the demigods on par for future battles with non-monsters. According to the roster that Sam had spotted it was mostly Ares campers and Hunters who wanted to participate, but so did John and a couple of others.

Sam ate some nuts that he had swiped from the lunch buffet as the combatants entered the arena in armour and carrying weapons, some more conventional than others. Sam spotted broadswords, Roman shields, a spiked mace and others. John wielded his sword and simple shield.

'Do you know the name John has given his blade?' asked Suzan.

Sam shook his head as he touched the holster that held his axe strapped to his back.

'Two-hander,' replied Jade. 'That thing is a beast wielded by a monster.'

'Now, now,' chided Lou with a fake English accent. 'That is no way to speak of your brother.'

'Bite me,' replied Jade as she stuck out her tongue.

'Bloody mad, you're all bloody mad,' said Sam as he stood up and winced.

'Have you checked your stump today?' asked Lou.

'Of course I did,' lied Sam.

'Sam,' spoke Lou menacingly.

'Aw, does the little mage need mommy's help?' asked one of the Hunters. Sam recognized her as Tina, master marksman and close friend of Hilda. She smirked before taking a bite out of an apple.

'Shut it,' growled Lou.

'Oh, look the boy needs his big sister to fight his battles,' mocked Tina. 'Can't handle it?'

'I give you two seconds to leave, before we make you,' said Jade rubbing the bull charm.

'Oh, another sister is joining the scene,' said Tina. More people turned around and watched the scene unfold.

'Shut your mouth or I will…,' threatened Suzan.

'And that makes three of a kind,' laughed Tina. 'Where is the fourth one?'

'About to whoop your ass if you keep talking,' said Mia as she strapped on her vambraces.

Tina grinned. 'Four on one, a bit excessive don't you think?'

The four female mages stared at Tina and stood by Sam who was somewhat staring at his feet.

'Would you look at that, four mages and a pipsqueak standing side by side,' joked Tina. 'Well, four mages and a sorry ass demigod to be exact. Hey, peg leg.'

Sam looked up and saw the Hunter smiling at her comment. He clenched his fists. 'Yeah, birdbrain?'

'It speaks,' squealed Tina with laughter. Some of the other demigods joined her.

'I swear to the gods, I will bash in your skull,' said Jade.

'Don't,' said Sam as he made his way towards the stairs.

'Yeah, just leave us behind, like your father did to you,' said Tina. 'Coward.'

Sam turned around and stomped towards Tina with his fist raised. His eyes were pure anger. Lou and Suzan had to hold him back. 'Let me go, I'll fucking knock her head off her neck.'

'The little guy has spunk,' said Tina

'You and me, down there. No limits,' said Sam. 'I'm going to make you eat those words.'

'Oh please, you couldn't even touch me, titan spawn,' said Tina as she toyed with a silver dagger.

'Never thought Hunters to be such little bitches,' said Sam. 'Guess everybody can become a Hunter these days, Artemis must be desperate.'

Tina tightened her grip on her dagger. She eyed Sam and breathed out. 'Fine, I'll ground you to dust,' said the immortal thirteen year old.

* * *

Moments later Sam was standing in the arena wearing light leather armour and his cloak, with his shield strapped to his left arm and his battle axe in his right hand. He felt the weight of two card decks at his waist. His opponent wore her Hunters uniform with the addition of a breastplate. She wielded her dagger and a sword.

'This fight will last until one of you is unable to continue fighting or until one gives in,' announced Chiron. He shot Sam a quick look.

Sam ignored it and focused on the pain in his stump. He cursed himself for not taking care of it better after the quest. He called up some magic and guided it to his prosthesis to keep it steady. The weight of his axe was reassuring.

Chiron called the start and Sam waited for the first strike to come. He didn't expect it so soon.

The Hunter leaped the ten feet in between them and struck his shield. Sam felt his muscles aching from the sudden impact. People weren't kidding when they said that Hunters were strong. His feet started slipping in the sand. Sam tried to hold his ground as Tina launched strike after strike.

'You're pathetic,' spat Tina as she backed away for a moment. She seemed unfazed by the fight.

Sam tried to control his breathing as he lifted both shield and axe. He didn't have the energy to talk. The pain in his stump and the magic he poured into it were already starting to wear him out. Another shockwave ran through his arm as Tina had hacked at his axe, but he managed to block it.

'Of course they have to protect you, you can't do it yourself.' Tina attacked and Sam fell down. She backed away. 'Get up, you don't get to surrender.'

Sam got back on his feet, panting. He stared at his opponent. The blonde Hunter wasn't even breaking a sweat. Was he that weak, he thought. He raised his weapon and waited once more.

Cali stood next to Lou and Harley as she watched the fight. He wasn't going to win if the fight continued like that.

'Are you ready to go if needed?' asked Lou.

'Yes,' said Harley.

'It's not looking good is it,' said Cali. 'Tina is vicious.'

'He's going to lose,' said Lou, 'but he's not going to make it easy.'

Tina continued her assault by pounding on his shield. After a moment she managed to get through his defensive stance and slashed his shield arm with her dagger. He yelped as blood trickled down his arm and hand.

'Oh, did I hurt you?' she mocked. This boy isn't worth my time.

'Enough,' he said gritting his teeth. Sam managed to unclasp the shield from his arm and strapped it to his back. 'Time to even the odds.'

'I carry two weapons, you have a single battle axe.'

Sam grinned as he grabbed his axe by the handle and turned it upside down and uncovered a button in the pommel. He pressed it and a mechanical click was heard as the weapon changed. The large handle split into two and so did the axe head. Sam grabbed the pommel and pin that held both axes together and removed them to reveal the set of axes that were the original weapons George had mended for him.

The black blades and grey handles seemed to absorb the afternoon light. The handles were a foot in length and the grip was grey. Sam crossed and uncrossed them. The sound of scraping metal resonated through the arena.

'You were saying?' said Sam.

Tina showed a feral grin as she attacked.

The two clashed with each other, attacking and parrying several strikes. Sam was focusing his magical powers onto his limbs to ease the strain he felt. His stump burned with every move. As Tina showed the first signs of fatigue, Sam got fiercer in his attacks. He swung his blades at Tina with the intent to hurt her. He noticed that she was slowly backing away, so he continued his barrage. Sparks flew as their weapons connected. Tina pushed him way. They stood panting for a moment.

The cut on his arm stung as sand had been thrown into it. His entire body hurt with the stump throbbing. Sam lowered his weapons to ease the ache, but it was no use. Tina seemed to handle the fatigue better.

'You ready for the final scene?' asked Tina with a smile as she raised her weapons.

'Bring it.'

The Hunter muttered something and a silver glow enveloped her, while her eyes grew large and a grin appeared on her lips. In a swift motion she had advanced to Sam and swung her sword at him. The mage managed to block it at the last moment. The Hunter attacked with her dagger and managed to hit Sam in the arm again. Fresh blood trickled onto the sand. Sam pushed his arm down, and gritted his teeth as the dagger cut deeper and grabbed the deck from his pocket. He used the magical power from the cards to ready himself.

' _Dragonbreath'_ , he muttered.

Sam exhaled through his mouth and flames appeared. The fire moved through the air and singed Tina's hair as she ducked and jumped back. He kept exhaling until he readied his weapons again. Flames clouded his vision, but he assumed she would be keeping her distance. A mistake. The flames disappeared.

Arrows pierced the distance between them. The first one knocked the deck from his hand, the second one tore through the second deck in his pocket. The third made him drop his left hand axe. A fourth one grazed his right hand, but left him defenceless as he had to drop his weapons. Tina notched another arrow and let it loose. It slashed through his left leg. Sam buckled under the weight and fell on his back. Tina strolled over with her sword in her hand.

'You win,' said Sam breathing heavily.

She ignored his remark and kneeled before she grabbed his prosthesis and dragged him by it until it came off. She threw it to the side and kicked the nearest axe closer to Sam. She then held her sword bye his neck. A single thrust would kill him.

'Pick it up,' said Tina pointing at the axe.

Sam tried to move, but without his left leg it wasn't easy. He stretched until his fingertips felt the metal. Suddenly Tina moved it further with her sword.

'Pick it up,' she said again. The sword tip touched his skin.

'I can't,' said Sam. 'You've beaten me. I s..'

'You're not!' she said grounding her foot on Sam's leg wound. He screamed in pain. 'Pick it up!'

'I can't,' said Sam with tears flowing down his cheeks. He tried to reach the axe but Tina moved it once again. He tried to raise a shield, but when he said the first syllable, Tina pressed the tip against his skin.

'You're weak,' she spat. 'You're a disgrace to us demigods.'

Before she could utter another word, a fist landed on her face throwing her through the air against the wall. John's fist was embedded in orange glow.

'He's had enough,' he said. 'Get yourself checked, I might've broken your jaw. Anyone got a problem with that?'

Nobody reacted as John helped his youngest brother up and grabbed him in his arms. With a flick of his wrist the prosthetic floated behind them as they left the arena.

It wasn't until Hilda had jumped down into the arena that Tina was helped back on her feet.


	26. Peg Leg For President

**Hi there I'm back with another chapter in the life of Sam Parker. With all the pieces in place, the final arc in this story will start with the next chapter. Since this is chapter 25, I think I have about ten more chapters to go depending on the length of each of them. Hope you enjoy and please review.**

* * *

 **Chapter 25: Peg Leg For President**

He walked towards her and laid his hand on her shoulder. They stared at the massive army that had gathered at the foot of the hill. In the back stood two 20 foot high figures being prepared for battle. Behind them stood Pandora's tent.

'Are you okay?' he asked.

She whipped her head around and glared at him. 'Of course I'm not, she's gone absolutely mental. Have you any idea what we have unleashed? If she isn't defeated, she'll implode in craziness.' She gestured at the army.

Alabaster looked his sister in the eyes. She was tired thanks to the ritual. 'She'll grant us anything we wish for once the Olympians are defeated.'

'If they are defeated,' replied Circe. 'The possibilities are endless with this war. Haven't you learnt by now? There are too many mages fighting in this war.'

And with that Circe stalked away, leaving Alabaster looking at the army that stood at his feet. The preparations had been made for the assault on Camp Half Blood and Olympus.

* * *

That evening tensions flared at Camp Half-Blood. At dinner, the Hunters ate in silence until Lou Ellen and John entered the pavilion. None of the other Hecate campers were present. The two eldest mages scanned the room as Annabeth, Percy, Jason and Clarisse rose from their seats. Chiron and Mister D stared at the scene while the room fell silent.

Lou was the first to make a move. In a single motion she had drawn a dagger and thrown it at the Hunter's table. The blade embedded itself in the wood. Tina looked up as she ate some mashed potatoes. Eating with a fractured jaw that was freshly healed still hurt like hell.

'That's the final warning,' spoke Lou. 'Touch any of my siblings again, and by the gods, I will tear you apart piece by piece.'

'He challenged her,' said Hilda. 'We all heard it.' Most Hunters agreed.

'He surrendered,' countered John. 'She had no right to treat him like that.'

'Tina has received her punishment,' interrupted Thalia. 'There is no need for this.'

'Apparently, there is as they haven't received the message. Do not push me any further or I will push back,' said Lou staring fiercely at Thalia.

'Understood,' declared Thalia.

Tina stared at John. 'Crystal clear.'

John exhaled and started muttering something, until Clarisse grabbed his arm and shook her head. Her eyes said _Don't, she not worth it._ John nodded before leaving with Lou.

Percy was the last to seat himself again. He stared at the two mages as they disappeared out of sight. He breathed out and let go of Riptide, which he had been holding since the two walked in. He prayed to Poseidon for help.

* * *

At the infirmary, Sam was lying in his bed, staring at the ceiling. The pain in his stump had almost subdued completely thanks to the care of Helen and Harley. He tried to forget what has happened in the arena, but the words that Tina had spoken echoed through his head. He made fists and stomped the mattress.

'You alright?' asked a familiar voice.

Sam turned his head and saw Cali standing in the doorway. She held a plate of food and a cup. 'Guess you saw it too?'

Cali nodded as she walked into the room. 'Yeah you did good until you made that mistake. Should've melted her face off.'

Sam chuckled. 'And people tell me Lou has issues.'

Cali grinned. 'Blame it on the storm coursing through my veins, it can come slow, it can come quick.'

The friends stared at each other. 'Any news? I don't remember much after Tina put her boot on the wound.'

'John got her off you with a single punch and Lou just threatened anyone who lays a finger on you. Guess you'll be solo-training for some time.'

Sam buried his face in his pillow. 'That's cool and all, but damn, they don't have to go all out for this. I can handle myself.'

'Yeah, it showed,' said Cali with a raised eyebrow.

'Handle myself against a normal demigod, those Hunters are nothing but man-hating war machines.'

'Want to get out of here?' asked Cali. 'I want to go to the beach.'

'Sure.' Sam ignored the tenderness of his stump as he reattached the prosthesis and followed Cali out of the infirmary through the window.

Moments later they sat on a beach towel, staring at the sea.

'This is what I was expecting when camp was first mentioned,' said Sam. 'Just sitting and listening to the sound of nature. And stars, I really wanted to see the stars.'

'I always enjoy coming to the sea,' said Cali. 'It's feels like home.'

'I understand that, you're the daughter of a sea goddess after all.' They sat in silence, as Sam laid down and stared at the star filled sky. 'Cali, do you think of me as a good demigod?'

She joined him. 'What do you mean by that?'

'You know, with the sword fighting and capture the flag games and that? It's just that I thought…Never mind.'

'She said something didn't she,' asked Cali. 'I've seen you do things most of us could only dream of. Those flames were pretty cool to see. Weren't you flying a couple of days ago?'

'Tina told me that I was a disgrace and Ares called me an incomplete warrior.'

'Tina's just a stuck up bitch. I mean Thalia is pretty cool and all, but most of the Hunters are really annoying to say the least. And Ares is a jerk.'

'Thanks,' said Sam.

'No problem, Peg Leg,' said Cali as she grabbed his hand.

'No fair,' he huffed. 'Now, I have to find you a nickname.'

'Don't think too hard, you might sprain your brain,' said Cali with a chuckle.

Sam responded by dousing her with water that was stored in one of his cards. Cali grinned as she removed the water from her clothes and used it to tickle Sam.

The two demigods had no idea that they were being watched by Lou, Percy and Harley as they had noticed Sam's disappearance.

'He'll be okay,' said Harley. 'You can chastise him in the morning, let him have this night. And you should go to bed, you look like shit, doctor's orders.'

'Yes ma'am,' said Lou with a mock salute that made Percy snicker.

* * *

'So, you all think he's ready?' asked Lou as she took a gulp from her tea.

The Hecate siblings sat at the large dining table. The others had cornered their counsellor the moment she had walked in. They all looked her in the eye as they showed her their sigils. Lou had sighed and made tea.

'Aye,' said Ronan with a grin.

'So say one, so say you all?'

They nodded.

'Good, I'll have an occasion to give him these,' said Lou as she made a pair of reinforced gloves appear on the table. She smiled. 'To Sam.' She raised her mug.

'To the magician,' said John.

'To the card shark,' greeted Ronan.

'To the reckless mage,' commented Jade.

'To the permanent infirmary bed,' grinned Suzan.

'To our baby brother,' finished Mia.

And with that the Hecate siblings started organising the event that would make Sam the owner of a personal sigil.

* * *

Sam awoke in the infirmary the next morning. The sunlight had woken him and not the music of the Apollo cabin or the conch as usual. He slowly got dressed. The pain in his stump had completely vanished after the nightly rest.

Sam smiled at the memory of Cali tickling him with the water.

Suddenly the door of the room flung open and a bewildered Harley and Cali barged in.

'Thank the gods, he's here,' Harley muttered.

'Where else should I be?' asked Sam as he put on his hoodie.

'Sam, everybody is gone,' said Cali.

After all the cabins had been thoroughly searched and turned upside down, the campers gathered in the dining pavilion.

'Alright, everybody please settle down,' shouted Harley. 'Has anybody any idea what happened?'

'All the head counsellors are gone,' said one of the older Athena campers. 'Both current and former.'

'That's not all,' said Diana, one of the latest Hunter recruits. 'Many of the older Hunters vanished as well. Thalia, Hilda, Tina and others.'

'It's the prophecy,' said Rick, currently the eldest Athena camper. 'Ancient foes shall rise/The warriors will fade/Dressed in silver shade/The last shall flee to mend/A brother's bond be the end/Tears of storm fall/When fire answers no call.'

'If all the warriors have faded, why are we still here?' asked Mike, the current Ares elder.

'Because you haven't been in an actual war yet,' replied Sam. 'War-rior, it's in the name.'

'What are we going to do?' asked Julia as she consoled one of the younger demigods.

All remaining demigods stared at Harley and the infirmary crew who managed to lose only one of their own in the mystical attack.

'Oh no, I'm no leader. I'm a doctor,' said Harley.

'But you're the oldest person here,' said Cali as she held hands with Gina.

'Let Jack or Eliza be the leaders, they're the eldest children of Zeus,' she replied as she sat down.

Before either Jack or Eliza could reply, one of the Hermes children came running in.

'Enemies are approaching the border,' he said. 'Three of them. A cloaked man, a woman dressed in a white gown and a woman dressed in a simple dress. They asked for the son of magic to talk to them.'

All eyes turned to Sam who sat at the Hecate table.

He slowly stood and made his axes appear in his hands as he walked out. Cali, George and Harley followed him. They walked towards the border. Peleus had raised his head as the three enemies had stopped a couple of yards before the borders. The four demigods looked at the three others.

'Alabaster,' shouted Sam. 'Are you doing this?'

'Among others,' replied the eldest son of Hecate.

'What do you want?' asked Cali.

'We want your unconditional surrender,' replied the woman dressed in white.

'Are who are you?' asked George pointing his hammer at her.

'Khione, the great goddess of snow,' replied Khione.

'Sorry, don't know you,' he replied with a shrug.

'But you will get to know us,' spoke the last of them. The woman was beautiful. Sam thought that she wouldn't look bad in a fashion magazine. Her brown eyes looked at him with curiosity. 'We want your surrender and the location of my pithos. If you give it to me, we might spare you. If you don't, we will annihilate you.'

'Pandora, you're Pandora,' said Harley.

'Smart child, Asclepius' no? Healers of the sick, defenders of the weak. Your powers might be of use to me.'

'No one touches our medic,' said Cali unsheathing her blade.

Pandora laughed. It was a warm one, which was weird considering she had just threatened them with death and worse.

'You sweet child of the sea. I shall give you twenty four hours to decide if you want to wage war. I suggest you use the time to come to your senses and find my pithos. If you wish to give me your answer, send your son of Hecate to the border to meet his superior.'

And with that the three of them disappeared in the shadows.

'This is bad,' said George.


	27. Madness Before Dawn

**For those actively following this fic, I'm sorry that it's a day late, had things to do yesterday. On an other note: The first chapter of the final arc is here :D War is coming and things are about to change. Tensions will flare and there will be consequences. What these will be shall be revealed over time. Enjoy and please review.**

* * *

 **Chapter 26 Madness Before Dawn**

 _Meanwhile on Olympus_

'What do you mean, we can't get out of Olympus?' asked Percy Jackson.

The demigods and their parents had gathered in the throne room of the Olympians. The Council gods sat on their thrones as the minor gods wandered around or sat on magically transported pieces of furniture. The demigods did the same.

'The elevator isn't working and there is some magic keeping us from leaving this place,' said Poseidon. 'Hecate?'

The goddess of magic cleared her throat and stared at the crowd. 'From what we can see, it's a form of ancient divine-like magic. Not even I can break through. My guess is that Pandora has gathered Circe and other magicians to help her with this. I will need time to see if we can get a signal through the magical barrier to Camp Half Blood and Camp Jupiter.'

'We'll help,' said Lou. 'I can't stand doing nothing while the others are down there.'

'What are we going to do? My daughter is all alone,' said Kymopoleia with a sad frown on her face.

'So is mine,' responded Enyo.

'We all have children who are trapped in Camp Half Blood,' said Hades. 'One of the young ones is my son.'

'None of them have ever fought in a war,' said Annabeth. 'They have no experience with the hardships of long battles.'

'We had peace for years,' said Chiron. 'The older demigods are skilled enough to keep the younger ones safe.'

'Oh please, Chiron,' said Ares. 'They'll be slaughtered by Pandora's army. They have no one to help them against the intellect of Pandora, nor her tactical insight. Pipsqueaks and toddlers won't save the camp. Get us out of here and we will be able to eradicate Pandora once and for all, if not, we will need a lot of firewood.'

'Shut up, you oaf,' spat Athena. 'Instead of being so glum, maybe you could give us a hand in finding a solution?'

Before any other god could react the bickering began between the gods of war and their children. Soon everybody was shouting at each other.

'Enough!' yelled a female voice. The fire grew larger. 'I will not stand here, watching us turning on each other.' Hestia stared at her siblings. 'Is there any way we can communicate with our children? Hermes? Iris?'

'My messages aren't getting through,' said Hermes.

Iris shook her head.

'I might be of assistance,' said Hephaestus with a gruff voice.

All eyes turned on him.

'You can't,' said Zeus. 'We agreed to never tell.'

'Under the circumstances, we have no choice,' said Athena. 'Show them.'

'Show us what?' asked Clarisse.

Hephaestus sighed and waved his hand. Suddenly large TV screens appeared in the room. They flickered to life and showed the other demigods being busy at Camp Half Blood. Some were busy distributing weapons, while others were setting up barricades. They spotted Sam and George sharpening their daggers.

'You watch us through these?' asked Percy. Poseidon nodded.

'You've been watching us like this for years?' asked Annabeth. 'All of us. Everything we did?' Athena nodded.

'Have you never wondered how we showed up at the times we did?' asked Aphrodite. 'We watch everything here and if needed, we offer some guidance.'

'Aside from the fact that you have been spying on us for years,' said Lou. 'Thank you, it is a great help. Any way we can turn up the sound?'

Every demigod turned away from their parent and took a seat in the middle of the room and stared at the screens. The painful silence in the throne room was only broken by the sounds of Camp Half Blood preparing for war.

* * *

The demigods were gearing up with weapons and armour being distributed by the Hephaestus cabin, while the remaining members of said cabin were forging weapons and armour for those who didn't have any. The sound of metal reverberated through the air.

The Athena cabin under the watchful eye of Harley made a list of the number of people that were still at camp and their powers and skills. The idea had been suggested by Rick. With everybody accounted for besides Sam, George and Cali, they were about a hundred strong with a variety of skills and weaponry to their aid.

'So, how is everything going?' asked George who was wearing his leather apron and forging hammer. Soot stained his face.

'Good, we're pretty much done with the list. You're one of the final ones that need to be registered. Any particular skills?,' asked Jessica.

'I'm pretty good with a hammer,' said George. 'Blacksmithing, building stuff, cracking skulls with an iron head.'

Jessica snickered. 'Front of the army or back?'

'Upfront, first row,' he replied with a grin.

'You're all nuts in cabin nine,' said Jessica.

'We have bolts too you know.'

Jessica rolled her eyes as a smile appeared on her face.

'What are you doing?' asked Cali as she sat next to Sam at the ping pong table in the Big House. It was filled with diamond playing cards. They had been doodled on.

'Making talismans with playing cards,' he replied. 'The diamond cards represent shields in ancient times, thus making them easier to enchant with defensive enchantments.'

'Is that why you keep winning at card games? You're using magic?'

'Luck, chance and possibility based magic to be precise. The more possibilities there are, the better I get.'

'Remind me to never play poker with you again,' said Cali with a grin.

Sam gave her a smile as the fatigue started kicking in. He had been infusing the cards with magic since the preparations started. When he finished the last diamond card he had scavenged from the cabins and the Big House, Sam and Cali gathered them and joined the others at the dining hall.

'These are for the archers and people on the first and second row of the battle formations,' said Sam. 'They are enchanted talismans. Since I'm not the strongest mage here, these aren't as powerful as I had hoped. If you're lucky they will give you a moment to regain your senses if you have been struck. Do not rely on them, but use them to your advantage.'

The cards were distributed among the demigods who placed them onto their shields, pieces of armour and more. Sam joined the other cabin heads.

'Sam,' said Rick. 'We still need your skills for the list.'

'Enchantments and fire magic alongside these two.' He slipped out the axes from his cloak. He held each weapon in his hands and felt the grip roughing up his palms. 'Are we ready for war?'

'Everybody is armed and wearing pieces of armour. We could use some more archers though,' said Lianne, currently the eldest Hunter at camp. 'The Hunters will be covering most of the archer positions since the Blessing of Artemis is still with us. There are a few Apollo kids and Athena campers that could join the group.'

'Most of us have had training with weapons, but none of us have actually been in a war,' said Mike. 'I have no idea if we'll be able to hold them.'

'What are we up against?' asked Jack, Zeus' number one.

'Gods, monsters and demi-titans,' said Sam. 'I have no freaking clue if we'll be able to defeat them.'

'We will stand our ground,' said Julia, Hermes counsellor. 'Most of you think this is nothing but a camp, but to me, it's my home. I have nowhere else to go if it gets destroyed. We have divine blood running in our veins, time to use it.'

The group felt silent. The murmur in the pavilion died down.

Harley stood up and said: 'Sharpen your blades, strengthen your shields. We go to war at dawn.'

* * *

That night the world fell silent. Alabaster was strapping on his armour when Circe walked into his tent. She wore black clothing bearing protective sigils and runes.

'Are you ready?' she asked. 'They've sent their mage out to talk. I don't think they are going to surrender.'

Alabaster nodded and strapped a sword to his waist. Circe gave him a small nod as he walked out. The fresh air helped him clear his head. The army they had brought with them could crush the camp more than once, but for some reason Alabaster Torrington was not so sure of his victory as he had been years prior.

Sounds of war reached him with every turn he took. People strapping on armour, weapons being sharpened or made. He signalled the gatekeeper and the wooden gate opened up. Alabaster walked out of the camp towards the middle of the battle field where he was to meet his younger brother. He breathed in the scent of the evening.

The middle of the battlefield was situated a quarter mile beyond Half Blood Hill and the protective borders of the camp. If one would stand on top of the hill, the plain would be highly visible. It gave the campers an unfortunate advantage.

Alabaster took a seat of the table that stood there with a couple of torches illuminating the spot. After a while he saw a figure approaching him. It was Sam, dressed in leather armour and a metal breastplate with his cloak draped over his shoulders. The younger demigod took a seat.

'Torrington,' Sam said.

'Parker,' he replied. 'What is the verdict?'

'We wage war at dawn,' said Sam while depositing an axe on the table.

'Very well, I will give Pandora your answer. If I may give you some advice, don't hesitate to surrender. The king's children can be quite vicious in battle.'

'So can we,' replied Sam. 'People like me have hidden talents.'

'Let's hope so, you will need it. But then again you won't have help from the gods, so I think we will be winning this first battle. You have until dawn to surrender after that you can abandon all hope.'

'Hope is where the hearth is, according to a goddess I've met. We still have the hearth. If memory serves me right, you don't. At dawn.'

'At dawn,' replied Alabaster as he watched his younger brother vanish in the darkness.

* * *

'What did he say?' asked Annabeth.

'The children of the king can be vicious,' replied Lou.

'Demi-titans by Hyperion?' asked Piper. 'Midas was a king too.'

'Lycaon, king of Arcadia,' replied Thalia. 'Lycans were part of the opponents at the house.'

'They should be relatively safe then,' replied Artemis. 'Hunters are only equipped with silver arrows.'

'But what if they fail?' said Enyo. 'Those beasts are known for not going for the clean kill. It'll get messy.'

'Keep it down,' said Annabeth. 'Something's happening at camp.'

* * *

'We need all the silver we can find,' said Sam. 'They're going to send lycans on us at dawn. Archers will only be carrying silver arrows. Everyone should at least carry a single weapon made of silver or have silver in it. Hephaestus cabin, can you guys forge some daggers and arrowheads? The rest of us, we scavenge every cabin from top to bottom and collect anything holding silver.'

'Everything?' asked Ella, the twelve year old head counsellor of the Aphrodite cabin.

'Yes. Mirror frames, plates, anything that can be melted down and become a coating for weapons. Let's go.'

The group scattered and went to their respective cabins.

Sam partnered up with Cali and Mike to search the Hecate cabin. In all the hurry, he forgot to put up the disguise and the other demigods walked into Cabin 20 in all its splendour.

'Nice place you got here,' said Mike. 'Sure beats my bunk bed at Ares.'

'That's what you get when your mom is a minor goddess who spoils you,' replied Sam with a shrug.

The three of them turned the entire cabin upside down and came up with several knives, dagger and plates. They also found a chalice in Mia's room.

'Do think they'll mind if we use these?' asked Cali.

'We have no other choice, we need every ounce of silver we can get,' replied Sam picking up the dagger.

The three of them joined the others in the dining pavilion where a large pile of silver was awaiting further treatment. The three joined the others at the counsellor table.

'Before we discuss the weapons distribution we need to talk about who's going to be the leader,' said Harley. 'I'm not doing it as you'll need me in the medic bay. I suggest Jack, as eldest Zeus-camper.'

'Yeah, about that. Since I can barely keep the peace between my siblings, I'm passing up this opportunity. Jason would be a great leader, any of the Seven would be really.' Jack played with his beaded necklace.

'Can't we do this later?' asked Cali. 'We need to see if we have enough silver to cover our asses.'

Lianne cleared her throat. 'The Hunters and archers have enough arrows with ten full quivers to spare. We also gathered every spare dagger and knife we could find in the packs of the vanished Hunters. From what I can see, we have enough daggers to arm fifty of us. Silver swords are more difficult, George?'

'We need more silver to create silver swords, or at least partial blades,' replied the blacksmith. 'I'm just saying that there aren't that many of us who have natural skills with knife fighting. We can coat edges and tips of swords with silver for swords, which would in theory give every one of us a silver weapon.'

'Have we checked every cabin?' asked Sam.

'All except Hera's,' said Julia while staring at Sam. 'Her cabin is sacred ground, none of us dares to enter.'

'You kidding me?' asked Sam as he stood. He stormed off and muttered curses under his breath.

The others looked at each other for a moment before dashing after him. They followed him to Hera's cabin where he took off his cloak and held it as a makeshift bag. He took a quick glance at the other before opening the door and walking in, spewing profanities.

* * *

'O no, he did not just do that!' exclaimed Clarisse. 'The kid's got balls.'

'That's my cabin,' shrieked Hera. 'I'll blast him to pieces!'

'Was he really calling the gods "a band of egotistical birdbrained know it alls who can't solve their own shit"?' asked Katie Gardner.

'He's blood mad, I tell you.' Thalia stared at the Hecate cabin who just shrugged in unison. 'All mad, they're all mad.'

'No he isn't,' said Dionysius as he sat himself next to Thalia. 'He's the most sane person there.' The god of wine showed her a grin.

* * *

Sam shivered in the cold cabin that had no beds, but a million figurines of peacocks that threw shades on the wall thanks to the fire in the middle of the cabins. He searched every nook and cranny and after a while he emerged back onto the cabin porch holding a silver and bronze gladius, candle sticks, several plates and a box containing silver nails.

'Add this to the inventory, it should be enough for a couple more weapons. If nobody's objecting the nails are mine to coat the blades of my axes. Now, if you will excuse me, I'm going for a bite and a drink, I need to erase the images out of my mind.'

Sam stalked off muttering something about if something needed to be done, you had to do it yourself.

'I say we elect Sam Parker as our leader,' said Harley. 'Someone who has the balls to do that, can lead me to war.' She grinned.


	28. First Day of War

**War has arrived! Hope you enjoy it. Reviews are welcome.**

* * *

 **Chapter 27: First Day of War**

'Yeah, no thanks. I'm not going to be the leader,' said Sam as he strapped on his armour for the upcoming battle. 'Let one of the Council demigods be elected.'

'We've already taken a vote,' replied Eve smilingly. 'You won by unanimous vote. You're the commander.'

'Great,' he muttered picking up his weapons of choice.

The two walked towards the dining pavilion that had become their base of operations. Eve was wearing some lightweight armour that allowed her more agility with her bow and short sword.

'I take it that you'll be in the ranged troops?' asked Sam as they entered the packed space.

The Apollo-leader shot him a smile. 'You crazy? I'll be in the front line. I've heard too many stories to not get my piece of the action.'

'Commander,' said Harley with a grin. 'We've been over the plans for the battle. Any pointers?'

'First order of the day. If anyone calls me that again, I'll feed them to the lycans myself,' said Sam overlooking his troops.

'Aye aye captain,' said one of the Hypnos campers.

Sam returned to the table with the cabin leaders. 'So, what's the plan?'

'We'll set up two teams of archers on top of Half Blood Hill,' replied Rick. 'They will provide suppressing fire. Fifty of the best fighters will form teams of five and stop the first wave of attackers. If needed we retreat beyond the borders of camp. They should be able to hold them off in the hour of need. Athena and Hephaestus are designing and building catapults as we speak, we could use the fire power.'

'Five people will be guarding the young ones in the arts and crafts cabin or the Big House, I will not have them see the battle. Keep them busy as we fight,' said Sam. 'George, do you have a large shield that I could exchange for my aspis?'

'Yeah, why?'

'I'll need the extra cover,' replied Sam. 'Which team will have me in it?'

'Actually, we wanted you to be on the support side of the battle,' replied Mike. 'We could use your magical shields to our advantage.'

'Fair enough,' said Sam. 'How's Camp Half-Blood's food supply?'

The others stared at him with a puzzled look. Sam shook his head.

'You know that they are outnumbering us at least 20 to 1? They could easily keep us prisoners within the borders of camp. Have you seen any nymphs lately, you know, the kind that prepares our food? Do the cups of plenty still work?'

'Yeah, those still work,' said Lianne as she sipped from her drink. 'But I see where you're going with this. If this war is going to last, we'll need food and water.'

'We have about ten hours till dawn,' said Sam. 'Let's see what we can come up with. Half of you ought to get some rest. I'll be in cabin 20, trying to figure how to get the others back. Oh yeah, has anybody thought of using the guns we have in storage?'

* * *

'They can't be serious,' said Demeter as they watched Sam walking off towards Cabin 20. 'Pandora's army has them outnumbered forty to one.'

'And four mages to one,' replied Hecate. 'Their chances aren't good.'

'They have a good plan,' said Annabeth angrily. 'They'll hold their ground. Pandora will not take them down so easily.'

'She won't have to,' said Ares. 'They'll get slaughtered before the day is over. Thirty archers won't hold the lycans and others at bay forever.'

Suddenly a demigod rose and stalked over to the Lord of War slapped him in the face. Clarisse La Rue stood before her father and stared at him with fire in her eyes.

'Not another word,' she spat. 'They are doing everything they can to save themselves, they could use your help, not your doubt. Get off your high horse and help us get out of here.'

'What do want me to do?' replied Ares. 'Do you want me to bang on the doors of elevator until it comes? Fine.' The god stood up from his seat and made a war hammer appear in his hands as he walked towards the doors of the throne room. He exited, leaving the doors open. Sounds of metal clashing with more metal were heard. In the silence they could have easily been cries for help.

* * *

Dawn had come too early for the demigods. Sam had slept for a couple of hours after searching the library of books for solutions for their problem. After a quick breakfast, he had been updated. Thanks to a proper camp pantry located at the back of the dining hall, the demigod forces would be able to eat two meals a day for three days, if the war lasted longer than that, they would have to start rationing.

'Start it immediately, we have no idea how long this is going to last, from sunset today, no more than a single meal,' argued Sam. 'Tell the Demeter cabin that we'll need their expertise on growing food.'

At the brink of war, better news had come to him. The storage had contained several rifles and enough celestial bronze bullets to last long enough. A couple of shotguns had also been found. The rifles and scopes were handed out to the most proficient demigods to be used alongside the arrows. Since the lycans would be less affected by the bronze, they were tasked with focussing on the other enemies.

'You ready?' asked Harley as they stood beside the pine tree. Before them stood a wall made of sandbags. The two teams of marksmen hid behind a wall of Roman-styled shields, with the squads standing at the base of Half Blood Hill.

'As I'll ever be,' replied Sam. 'You good?'

The doctor nodded. 'Send any wounded to me and I'll have them patched up in no time.'

And with that the sun appeared at the horizon. War had arrived.

* * *

'This is it,' said Percy. 'The fight begins.'

The audience watched the screens in front of them.

* * *

The first enemies ran towards them. They were the large wolf-like creatures that were lycans. Even in their hideous forms, most of them wore simple plates of armour, leaving pieces open for the arrowheads.

Emily was the first to release an arrow. The Ares-camper had perfectly aimed for the farthest enemy. The silver arrow pierced the distance with ease. It embedded itself in the neck of the lycan who crashed mid sprint. The monster vanished in a cloud of gold dust. More arrows were shot, with most of them being instant kills by the Hunters. Gold dust filled the air.

On the horizon appeared the next wave of armoured lycans accompanied by monsters of all sizes. From his high vantage point he spotted hellhounds as well as giant snakes. A drakon appeared as well.

'Snipers, keep your eyes on the hounds and snakes,' he yelled. 'I'll hold off the drakon for a while.'

Sam kept his eyes on the drakon as he stretched out his hands and whispered a spell. A white shield appeared in front of the beast and held it back as the others advanced. The first enemies reached the squads stationed at the bottom of the hill dressed in full armour. The Ares-campers stood their ground against the lycans as they defeated two of them by quickly stabbing them and retreating.

The fight continued, with monsters being killed by sword, arrow or bullet and more monsters appearing on the horizon. After what seemed hours, the first wounded appeared on the demigod side. A Hades camper and Athena camper had both been wounded by the swords of Scythian dracaena. As their team helped them up the hill, the other teams closed the ranks.

The squad delivered their wounded to the medics. Sam watched the medical team, led by Harley and Calypso, as it treated the wounds immediately. The squad recovered with a beverage and a quick snack before heading back down the hill. Sam released his grip on the drakon which was promptly shot by two Ares snipers.

As the sun reached its high point, the waves of monsters stopped. Sam took a seat against the pine as his shoulders ached. He sighed. John and Lou would've been down there and kicking monster butt, he was sitting tiredly after a couple of hours of simple defensive magic.

From the horizon appeared a new monster. It was a harpy who carried something in it's claws. As the monster approached the troops, it was shot down. It's package plummeting towards earth. With no monsters in sight, a demigod picked it up and brought it over to Sam, who recognized the demigod as Jake, an Hephaestus camper.

He opened the package. It was a scroll that asked for a meeting between the sons of magic in three hours. There would be no more attacks until after the meeting. The letter was signed by Pandora. Sam crumpled the letter as a feeling of relief washed over him.

'Jake, tell the others to come back inside the borders. Leave five of them on guard duty with four archers and anyone else who wants to stay.'

'Aye captain.'

Sam joined the others for the noon meal at the dining hall. Harley and Cali joined him.

'Tim and Luke will be making a full recovery. They'll be able to fight tomorrow.'

Sam nodded. 'Good. How's Calypso doing in the medic bay? Haven't spoken to her since all of this mess started.'

'She's a great asset. She might not be super-powered anymore, but she knows her healing stuff like no other. She's making potions and ointments as we speak. Maybe she could help you with our biggest predicament.'

'Cool.' Sam stood up and almost made it out of the hall before Harley spoke.

'You did great, commander.'

'You're lucky we whacked all lycans today, lieutenant.'

* * *

'They fought well,' said Poseidon.

'It was a test,' said Annabeth. 'To see what they are capable of. There will be harder challenges.'

'Sam must have an ace up his sleeve,' said Liam. 'You've never played a game of poker with him have you? The kid always has something to get back up.'

* * *

Sam walked over the infirmary and found Calypso being busy with all sorts of ingredients. The former Titan wore a white tunic while her caramel brown braid was pinned into a bun of sorts. She was humming a tune.

'Hi Calypso,' he said.

'Hi Sam. Heard you did great today.'

'Had some help with that.'

'True, yet most leaders get the praise.' The Titaness gave him a small smile.

'I need your help,' admitted Sam. 'I heard that you were a great sorceress back in the day and I was wondering if you could help me with our current situation.'

'The magic used to separate us from the older demigods and gods you mean. I should be able to help you with it, but as you know, I have no more powers of my own. You'll have to do all the heavy lifting unless you can find another sorcerer.'

'I'll take what I can get.'

'Then, please show me the Hecate library.'

'So it seems you've survived the first assault. Not many lycans left I might add,' said Alabaster as he poured a glass of water.

'We found some spare silver,' replied Sam.

'Pandora has seen your actions and was quite impressed. She has given me the task to offer you peace for her pithos. If you give her what she wants before ten pm, she will spare you and everything else you wish for.'

'I'll talk it through with my team. Anything else?'

'We can make things quite hard for you should you continue this useless thing. Remember that you are opposed by stronger mages and sorceresses. Have you found that spy yet? You know the one that got the Lion inside the camp and turned you on each other? Have fun with that. Don't forget, you have until ten pm to send me a message.'

And with that the eldest son of Hecate vanished into thin air.

That evening Sam, Calypso, Cali and Freddy, an Athena camper with the ability to read at extreme speeds, searched the Hecate library for clues on how to get the others back and restore their connection to the gods. After a while, Cali cried victory as she showed the others the leather bound volume.

'I found a spell that requires a lot of magical energy to accomplish. It enables to seal off a certain place from the outside world. If I remember mythology classes right, your mother used it during the Battle of Manhattan.'

'Alabaster is considered to be the strongest mage alive,' said Sam. 'I have no idea how strong Pandora is, but I'm guessing she isn't a push-over.'

'Circe has to be one of her magic users as well, as a minor goddess of magic and fire, she's a fine asset,' said Calypso.

'Medea has to be the fourth,' said Freddy. 'I read the stories of the Seven and when they met her, she told them that she had been trained by Circe. The spell Cali found has a serious drawback besides the massive amount of magic needed. It is anchored to a single person. As Hecate was the anchor at Manhattan, my guess is that Pandora is the anchor here.'

'We take her out, we can get the gods and the others back,' said Cali. 'Damn, that's not going to happen.'

'Alright, why don't you guys get some sleep. I'll go and give Alabaster our answer. Freddy, can you ask the Athena campers if they've made any progress with the pithos? It has to be at camp.'

* * *

'What did you do with the pithos after I gave it to you,' enquired Percy.

Hestia smiled. 'Hid at Camp half-Blood at the request of the Fates, not even I can ignore them. I've hidden it in my domain.'

'The hearth of Camp,' said Percy.

'Exactly.'

* * *

Once again, Sam found him sitting across Alabaster Torrington. The elder mage wore a black robe with white runes.

'What is your answer?'

'We haven't found the pithos yet. And we have no intention of surrendering. If we want the gods to come and help us, we need to take out your anchor.'

'Ah you've found out which spell was used. Well, I'll take your message to my commander. I suggest you keep some fires lit the next couple of days. Enjoy your last hours. Tomorrow we start the real war.'

The next day, the demigods found themselves standing on top of Half Blood Hill staring at the forces standing on the horizon. Hundreds of humans, Cyclops, and other monsters stood next to each other in glittering armours thanks to the morning sun. Their flags bore the red pithos of Pandora. As the opposing forces waited, the sky darkened.

As the first snowflakes touched the ground, so moved the army towards Camp Half Blood.


	29. Divine Powers

**Chapter 28 is here :D Hope you enjoy it. I'm making my way to the grand finale, having mapped out the major storyline till the end. Now I've got the details to fill in and actually write the chapters. Please review.**

* * *

 **Chapter 28 Divine Powers**

'Hold the line,' yelled George. He brought his hammer down on the shield of the demi-titan and slammed his own shield in the face of another one. An arrow flew past his face and pierced the neck of a dracaena which evaporated in a cloud of gold dust. George saw Jessica standing behind the line with a bow in her hands and a smile on her face. He grinned as he continued his battle.

From his place on top of Half Blood Hill, Sam could see the battle unfold. The first two waves had been defeated almost entirely, but now they were awaiting the next. Sam spotted bigger Cyclopes, giants and more reinforcements marching towards the line held by the demigod forces.

'What are we going to do?' asked Rick.

'We need more power to get past the brunt of their forces. It won't stop them forever, but it could buy us more time to get organized,' replied Sam. 'How are the catapults?'

'Almost finished,' said Jake. 'We haven't that much ammo for it though. We might load them with the boulders from Zeus' fist, but besides that I can only think of large pieces of scrap metal.'

'It'll have to do,' said Sam. He picked up some cards and shuffled them. As he watched the fight, he picked a couple of them from the stack. Three aces of clubs. He breathed out and let magic flow into the cards. 'We all have divine blood in our veins.'

Rick and Jake stared at Sam with puzzled looks on their faces. 'Yeah, we know,' said Rick. 'It gives us our abilities and powers.'

'Then it's time we used them. Jake, send Gina up here and tell her to bring her drum kit. Rick, can you design a system to get water pressurized fast?'

The Athena-counsellor nodded as Jake sprinted towards Camp Half Blood.

'You are going to create an earthquake somewhere in the middle of the battlefield, think you can handle that?' Sam glanced at Gina. She was wearing reinforced leather armour her hair was braided, but still held the two drumsticks.

'I should be able to do it for a couple of minutes at least. I haven't exactly trained my skills. Not everybody is happy about being shaken whenever I play on dry land.'

'Alright. Cali, you'll be in charge of the water gun. Rick and the Athena cabin have designed a system which will create a high powered jet of water, which should be able to knock over enemies on the battlefield. We need you to bring in the water and the initial push.'

'Okay, where do you need me?'

'Follow Rick, he'll show you. Gina, you're with me.'

Sam and Gina walked towards one of sides on top of Half Blood Hill. The battle had been fierce, the demigods had suffered casualties, but they still managed to take out enough adversaries in the morning battle. Their moment of relief was short lived as more enemies appeared at the horizon. Gina laid her pouch on the ground and as she picked it back up, the drum kit slowly appeared out of the pouch. She took a seat on a stool and checked everything.

'The kit's ready,' she announced. 'You got any preferences?'

'Anything heavy on bass is good,' replied Sam with a grin.

Three of the strongest Ares campers worked with the hose and nozzle that was attached to the tubing that lead back to the lake and Cali. They gathered a team of four people to be their shield as they arrived on the battlefield.

Soon their forces clashed again. The demigods defended the best they could, but it wasn't working. The enemy forces were too much to handle. Demigods were struck down by swords and other weapons. Squads ushered them up the hill, whilst they were being covered by the ranged squads.

'Time to get them off our backs. Gina, hit it. Rick, give the order.'

Within moments the sound of drums was heard and water was streaming out of the nozzle at high velocity, knocking smaller monsters and humans down. They were finished off by quick demigods or arrows being shot by Hunters. Strengthened by their newfound powers, the demigods fought back. Cyclopes were stabbed in the eyes by flying daggers, demi-titans were knocked out and others simply got killed.

Out of nowhere a freezing gust of wind ran across the field and the Hill. Snow fell down quickly, almost covering the ground within minutes. As the demigods fought their breaths became visible in white clouds and their weapons felt cold in their hands. The demigods shivered in the cold as the enemy changed forms. Instead of cyclopes and demigods, they had changed into creatures of ice and snow. The drums kept on playing. The ground still shook on the battlefield, but it became less and less.

'Get everyone inside the border,' yelled Sam. 'Close off the water and protect the main line with archers and riflemen.'

As his orders were passed down, more demigods entered the protective border, with the wounded being moved to the infirmary. Sam stared at all this. The cold, the snow, the forgotten weapons, the dead still lying on the line where the two armies clashed. He clenched his fists and breathed out. Sam grabbed his dagger and the three aces he had charged with magic, laid the cards on the small plateau before him. With his dagger his cut open his right thumb and let the blood drip on each ace. He pinned the three cards together with the dagger and closed his eyes.

* * *

She was staring at the screen in front of her. She had seen the carnage that had followed after the two armies had clashed once again. She gripped the arm rests and looked at her son preparing a spell, something she couldn't quite grasp. Based on his level of proficiency, the spell wasn't his to use, yet there he stood with a bloodied thumb dripping blood on his cloak.

Suddenly a flash filled the screens and the room was blinded for a moment. When the screen continued to broadcast, they captured the scene in crystal clear images. Sam stood with his arms stretched in front of him and his green eyes almost entirely clouded white. The most shocking thing was the visible red aura that he emitted. Sam moved his arms and hands while reciting words and sounds. The screens turned and showed a ten feet tall giant made of fire walking onto the battlefield melting the snow with each footstep. As its arms waved, fire was spread around it, melting the snow instantly and burning those who weren't fire proof. Screams of agony were heard. It advanced towards the enemy line in quick strides.

'How has he learned of this magic?' Hecate exclaimed. 'It is too advanced for him to handle.'

'He must've picked it up when they were searching for the separation spell,' said John.

'I think she's talking about the fact that he used his own blood as a power source,' said Suzan. 'We know it's dangerous, he doesn't as you need to have a sigil to be able counteract the effects.'

'Blood as a power source?' asked Percy.

'It's a way to make our magic stronger,' said Lou with a small voice. 'We would only use it in desperate times, because it's tricky stuff even for Suzan, John and me. Combine John's magic with his blood as a source and he'll be able to defeat everything you throw at him. The only drawback is that it consumes you. Use it too much and you'll die.'

'And by the looks of it, Sam isn't going to fight anytime soon,' said Clarisse.

The main screen showed Sam on his back with blood flowing out of his nose, with Cali and Rick hovering over him. The fire giant had disappeared, but it's actions were clearly visible. Burnt corpses laid across the battlefield, while others rolled in the snow, trying to cool their burns. The enemy had retreated, leaving the demigods some time to organize their defences for the time being.

The middle screen showed Sam being treated by Harley. The infirmary was filled with the injured, but everybody was trying to peek at their leader who was still unconscious.

'He'll make it,' said Lou as she held her mother's hand. She shot her a small smile. 'He's resilient.'

'It's on days like these I hate myself for falling in love with all of your fathers and mother. I should've never pushed you into the life of a demigod.' The goddess looked away as a tear rolled down her cheek. 'May the Fates be merciful.'

* * *

'How come I was not informed of this matter,' screamed Pandora at her subordinates. She glared at the children of Hecate, the goddess of snow and Medea. The demi-titan leader was absent as she tended to her fallen comrades. 'His foul fire magic has decimated our troops and scared the others.'

'We had no idea he was capable of this feat,' said Alabaster. 'He's supposed to be a novice mage, he doesn't even have a sigil for gods's sake.'

'Yet,' spat Pandora as she slammed her fist down on the table. 'He managed to create a fire giant. He isn't a normal mage. I want him neutralized.'

'We can't take him out now, he'll be a martyr,' said Circe. 'He'll become the symbol of their resistance.'

'Fine,' said Pandora. 'Khione, summon another snow storm, bury that camp in snow. You two, create some magical defences to keep other magical entities away from our troops,' she ordered Alabaster and Circe. 'Once you've done that, send them a message. If they want to surrender, they can give me my pithos, they know where it is. Now be gone. Medea, you're staying, I need to talk to you.'

* * *

Later that night, the demigods received the message. They were to bring the pithos by the second sunrise or face further assaults. Rick offered to bring the message to Sam, who was still in the infirmary being checked out by Harley and Helen.

He heard shouts as he walked in.

'I'm not staying in this bed. I have to find a way to kill Pandora.' Sam tried to move, but Harley and Helen held him down. One of the healers even went for restraints.

'You are,' decided Harley. 'You've done something amazing today, but it's taking its toll on you. You look like shit. You tell him Rick.'

'She's right, Sam. You look like shit. That giant was awesome, but you look like you haven't slept or eaten in days.'

'Fine,' muttered Sam. 'But I want updates every four hours. Wake me up if you have to.'

'We've received another message. It says to give them the pithos. If not, they continue with the attacks. We have until sunrise the day after tomorrow.'

'Great, that's just great. We're outnumbered, covered in bloody snow and they still want to wipe us out.'

'Stop worrying and go to sleep,' ordered Harley. 'You have an hour, if you're still up after that, I'll use my own methods. Rick, Helen, get out.'

'Aye aye chief,' said Helen as she rolled her eyes.

* * *

She couldn't understand why this was happening to her. She only wanted to serve her, to be a good help. If that would lead to something in the future, she would be content, but she had not expected this. The only thing she wanted to do at this moment was to scream and remove the dagger from her chest. The dagger as held in place by a firm hand. She met her twisted gaze. Pandora smiled as she tightened her grip on the dagger that was sticking out of Medea's chest. Power was flowing through it.

'Why,' muttered Medea breathing raggedly.

'Because I need more power when I become the new Queen of Olympus. Your powers are nothing compared to a god's but they will do for now. Being the anchor is harder than I thought. I might need more if this stupid war is going to last any longer.'

Pandora twisted the dagger and had Medea screaming a final time. The woman slumped and the dagger slid out of her chest. Medea fell down and blood seeped from beneath her.

'Oracus,' Pandora called.

A cyclops guard entered the tent and stared at the body. He nodded and picked it up.

'If you see Circe or Alabaster, have them sent to me. Make her disappear, understood?'

The cyclops nodded before leaving the tent.


	30. No Mercy

**Chapter 29 is here :D I nearly have all the players on the board to finish this story with a couple of great scenes. Hope you like the chapter. I'll upadte soon. Thanks for the support. reviews are much appreciated.**

* * *

 **Chapter 29 No Mercy**

He had no idea that he would've ended up like this. On the brink of redemption, being mourned by strangers. Snow clung to his armour. Pain was subsiding as he felt the cold more and more. He coughed and blood trickled out of the corner of his mouth as he smiled. A medium had once warned him for "the traitor's blade" that would be his downfall. He had ignored the warning and had continued his travels around the continent. He let out a laugh.

'I've made some bad choices in life,' he said.

'Do not speak, they'll get the medic.'

'Don't bother,' he said grinning. 'I'm going to die. I made some bad choices in life. I have blood on my hands that I can't wash off.'

He coughed once more as he touched the blade that was embedded in his own gut. The handle was smeared with blood. Snow had gathered on the top of the handle.

'Tell them I'm sorry for what I have done. I can only hope that the judges are merciful.'

'Shut up,' she spat. 'I will not let you die on this battlefield.'

'Make me,' he replied with a grin. 'I have one final trick up my sleeve, I can only hope that it gives you an advantage.' He mumbled a incantation. A bright light came from his body. The light floated away and drew something in the air. Suddenly the lines were filled and created ten foot walls bearing magic runes. As the light in his eyes died, he smiled.

It was so that Alabaster Torrington used his final breath.

* * *

The snow had stopped around the time he had woken up. Sam got out of bed and waited for Helen or Harley to appear. Within ten seconds both of them barged in. The elder medic glared at him.

'You are not supposed to be out of bed,' she said.

'I know, yet I am,' he replied. 'Get me a cane, I'm going for a walk.'

'Get a shower first, you reek,' said Helen. 'Or we could do a sponge bath.'

'I like that idea,' said Harley. 'If you get the restraints, I'll get the sponges.'

'I'll take a shower stool if you have one,' replied Sam as he sat back down. 'I can wash myself.'

Harley shrugged as Helen disappeared into the bathroom. The elder medic approached her patient and did the morning check-up. She couldn't find any major problems, but he still looked as if he had been dragged through hell.

'You're healthy, but you still look like shit. Get some decent breakfast after the shower. Come and get me if something goes wrong. No magic for another day. Keep stress out of the way as well. Fail to abide by these rules and I'll get Helen to scrub you real good.'

'As much as I like being used as a threat, your shower's ready,' said Helen as she reappeared in the room.

Sam got back on his feet and with the help of Helen he got into the shower.

After his shower Sam walked through the snow towards the Big House which had been their new base of operations since the dining hall had been trashed by the snow storm. Sam spotted everyone wearing armour and pieces of winter clothing. Fire pits had been installed every couple of yards which were used as places to heat up between places. He thanked the Hunters for most of the clothes as they had them lying in the cabin.

'Hey Sam.'

Sam turned around and saw Lianne and Gina walking towards him. Both wore silver jackets with a fur lining.

'Nice to see you up and running again,' said the daughter of Poseidon. She shivered and stuck her gloved hands in the pockets.

Lianne nodded. The cold didn't seem to affect her. 'We run in the cold,' she said as if she had read his mind.

'Good to know,' said Sam with a small smile. 'Any updates?'

'We've got a small food supply going. The Demeter cabin is growing potatoes in their cabin. The Athena cabin is trying to figure out where the pithos is. Not saying we should surrender, but if we have it, we have a bargaining chip,' replied Gina.

'There have been less snow storms. From what we can guess Khione is getting tired or bored. We've seen enemies approaching the borders to retreat immediately afterwards. Some are saying that Pandora is trying to erase the borders. If so, we're in a heap of trouble. We need you on the offensive side, not as a keeper of the borders.'

Suddenly one of the Hermes-campers arrived. The girl was wearing a light armour with a sword strapped to her waist. Cate panted as she warmed herself at the pit.

'Sam, we've received a message. There is a girl dressed in navy and white armour with blonde hair waiting for you outside the border. She says she will only speak to the leaders.'

'Take me to her.'

* * *

They arrived at the archway that was the entrance to Camp Half Blood and found the messenger standing next to a group of low level monster. Her armour was indeed blue and white armour, but it was also decorated with waves and the red pithos of Pandora. Her brown eyes stared at them from under a helmet with a blue Mohawk. They made their way towards the border.

'Iris,' growled Sam. 'Should've know you'd show up one day.'

'It's always nice to see one of my subjects in another light. You still dream of our little get together? It still brings a smile to my lips.' Iris smiled as she held out something in front of her. It was an envelope. 'Pandora needs an answer soon, she thought this might help.'

'We haven't found the pithos yet, so we're not surrendering anytime soon. Last time I checked, your troops got a bit singed,' said Sam with nervous smile. 'How many of your titan buddies managed to crawl back to camp?'

Iris' smile melted away. Her eyes went cold instantly. 'You'll pay for that, we'll have you begging for mercy once we get through these lousy borders. Without gods, it won't last long.'

Iris threw the envelope into the air before turning around and stalking away. Cate quickly grabbed it before it touched the snow and returned it to the others. The envelope was addressed to Sam. It bore the message: 'For your eyes only'.

'Guess I'll read it on my own then,' said Sam.

* * *

Gina had accompanied him to Cabin 20, after which Sam entered the empty cabin. Without the lights and fire in the fireplace, it seemed even more vacant. He deposited the cane and letter on the table and made a fire by superheating one of his cards. Sam shrugged at the thought that Harley always knew when one of her patients ignored her advice.

Helping himself to a glass of water from the pitcher that stood in the refrigerator alongside some potions that had to be kept there for safety reasons, Sam wondered how they could turn the tables on Pandora. They needed more power to maintain the status quo they had now for when Pandora would start attacking them again. The pithos would be an excellent example.

He took his glass with him and sat himself at the head of the table with his back to the fire. He used a dagger to open the envelope. The envelope contained a folded piece of parchment. It was blank. Sam stared at it and checked the envelope, which was empty. Suddenly letters appeared on the parchment, seemingly getting burned onto the paper.

 _To Sam Parker_

 _I send you this message to give you a push in the right direction concerning your unconditional surrender to me. I will give you two options which can help with the predicament you find yourself in._

 _Option 1: You surrender to me and join my army as one of its mages and leaders. I will honour every request you have after you surrendered and sworn an oath to serve me. This means that every one of your fellow campers will be safe from further peril. All I need for this option is you handing me my pithos._

 _Option 2: You refuse to surrender and hand me my pithos. Your camp will eventually be decimated, while your fellow campers will be slowly put out of their misery. I was told to remind you of your time with Iris and Aria. But this is not all. Besides losing your new home I will hurt you more than that. If you refuse to surrender, I will have to hurt someone close to you. The picture below will give you plenty of information._

 _PS: I was the one who taught Iris how to do the things she does._

 _Pandora, Bearer of Evil_

As soon as he had read the letter lines appeared on the bottom half of the page. A square quickly filled up with more lines and figures. In an instant the square showed a person smiling at him. He recognized the figure as the parchment cracked under his grip.

The picture showed Sarah at the park.

* * *

'No,' muttered Lou. 'Not her.' She stood and stared at the screen in the throne room. With her stood Hecate and Hestia.

'Who is the girl?' asked Piper.

The audience watched at Sam's tears falling upon the parchment. He threw his glass of water across the room. It shattered upon impact. A scream reverberated against the marble walls.

'It's Sarah Parker,' said Lou. 'She's Sam's baby sister.'

'His adopted sister?' asked Clarisse. 'Pandora is not playing around.'

'It makes sense,' said Annabeth.

Lou grabbed the daughter of Athena by the collar of her shirt and slammed her against a pillar. Gasps were heard. Her eyes stared into the grey storm ones.

'Makes sense?' growled Lou. 'Does is make sense to you that a boy is carrying this weight? That he has to decide about the lives of his friends or his sister?'

'She's going after his loved ones,' said Annabeth. 'It's a dirty move, but it's a move that forces the other to make a move. Whatever he does, he loses.' She grabbed Lou's wrists and freed herself. 'It makes sense because Pandora is a wicked merciless monster.' She held Lou in a hug.

'We should not be fighting among ourselves,' said Zeus. 'Discord cannot help us.'

'Maybe you should shut up,' said Lou. 'It's all your fault.'

'Lou, shush,' said Annabeth.

'You know I'm right,' said Lou.

'I know that, but they don't like to hear it.'

'What do you mean that she's right?' asked Athena.

'She's right when it's all your faults,' said Annabeth. 'If it hadn't been for you, we wouldn't have had to fight our own kind during the Titan War. If you hadn't separated us from the Romans, we would've had the deaths from the Giant War. If you hadn't created Pandora we wouldn't have been stuck here.'

'If it weren't for us, none of you would've been here period,' replied Athena. 'You are my child and you shall speak to me with respect.'

'If it weren't for you, I would've never had to endure the shit I did endure. There would never have been the monsters, the grief, the betrayal nor would I have ended up in Tartarus,' spat Annabeth.

The room fell silent as the goddess of wisdom walked past her daughter and left the throne room.

* * *

He walked outside in his cloak, the ache still present in his chest. Heat radiated from him. In his hand he held one of his axes. Without looking back Sam marched towards the border, leaving steaming footprints behind.

'Sam? You okay?' asked Cali as she and George crossed his path.

He ignored them and continued his way. He could hear people following but he didn't care. The rage was only burning harder and harder with very step. The moment he arrived at the border he stepped through and stood on top of Half Blood Hill.

Sam grabbed several cards, all jacks of clubs, and loaded them with magic. The heat glided into the cards until they were white hot and slightly burning. A figure made of fire slowly formed. It was a man riding horse.

'Pandora, I have my answer for you,' he spoke before the horse neighed. Sam breathed in and spoke. 'I will not surrender. For going after my sister, I will gouge out your eyes with a spoon before I kill you.' He threw the cards into the air and they flew away. The figure chased after it.

Sam fell to his knees as he sobbed. He shivered in the cold. 'May she forgive me.'

Cali draped his jacket across his shoulders before guiding him back inside the borders.

* * *

He had to suppress a smile when the news of the mysterious horseman had caught up to him. He stared at Circe who was sitting at the other end of the dining hall, she too was trying to supress a reaction. Alabaster had to admit that his brother had spunk.

The vision of the flaming horseman had angered Pandora to the point that she declared anyone who brought her the head of Sam Parker would become a king in the new world. The same was for the one who brought her his tongue. The demi-titan leader, Iris, had grinned wickedly at the announcement. She had unresolved issues with him.

'Lord Torrington,' said one of the lackeys. 'Lady Pandora requests your presence.'

He nodded before following the demi-titan.

* * *

They sat around the hearth of camp. Sam told them about the letter and his choice. Some looked horrified, while others seemed relieved.

'We need to end this fast, if we want to win this,' said Cali. 'She'll go after everyone we love to get her way. I say we go for the attack. Attack first, strike hard.'

'We can't do that,' said Mike and Lianne. 'The borders are our best way of defence.'

'They keep out the monsters, but what about Pandora herself or Khione?' asked Cali. 'They're nearly invincible. I highly doubt the borders will keep them out.'

'Our only chip would be the pithos, but we don't know where it is. Percy had it before, but no one knows what happened afterwards,' said Marie, an Athena camper who was tasked with finding the pithos.

'The old legend told that Hope remained in the pithos or box, right?' asked George.

Rick nodded. 'When Pandora closed the box/pithos, Hope remained trapped. To symbolise that Hope remains safe.'

'But Pandora is a psychotic monster,' said Cali. 'Who knows what actually happened those eons ago?'

'Percy was given the pithos and told to release Hope to surrender to Kronos,' said Gina. 'It might've been symbolic, but what if Hope is still in the pithos?'

'Hope is where the hearth is,' said Sam. 'What if the pithos is there as well?'

'The Olympian Hearth is inaccessible,' remarked Mike. 'That leaves us with only a million others.'

'And one before us,' said Marie. She pointed at the fire in front of her.

'Could it be?' asked Harley.

'Only one way to find it out,' said Sam. 'But I can't help you, I'm not allowed to use magic. Doctor's orders,' he added with a grin.

'Yeah, drop the innocent act, you've been using magic all day, this won't kill you either. Move the flames.'

Sam focused on the flames and lifted the flames away from the hearth leaving nothing but coals and ashes. 'Alright, start digging.'

George and Mike used their weapons as shovels spreading the contents of the hearth everywhere. After a couple of minutes, Mike found something. He and George cleared the last parts o ash and lifted out the pithos. Sam returned the fire to the coals and joined the others who had placed the pithos in the snow and used it to clean off some specks of ash.

It stood three feet tall and a foot wide, and bore a black and white design. Geometrical shapes according to the Athena campers. A lid was fastened by an intricate design consisting of leather straps and metal clasps.

'And we have our bargaining chip,' said Lianne with a grin.

'Who wants to open it?' asked Sam. 'Pandora said to give her the pithos, not what was in it.'

'And release Hope?' asked George. 'Are we ready for that?'

'Do we hand her Hope? Maybe Hope was never meant to be kept prisoner. Maybe she was meant to roam the earth and spread hope among men,' said Cali. 'Like I said, we don't know what happened all those years ago. I say we let go of Hope, if there is nothing, fine; if she's in there, we might have another warrior on our side, and we can use any help we can get.'

Everyone nodded and stared at each other.

George volunteered to open the pithos. One after the other, the clasps came undone and with a final breath and look at his fellow campers, George lifted the lid off. A small orb of light flew out and floated around them for a moment before floating next to the pithos. The orb grew larger and brighter. They closed their eyes and after a moment the glow disappeared.

Sam and Cali were the first to open their eyes. Next to the pithos stood a full grown woman. She was wearing bronze armour that consisted of a breastplate, greaves and armbraces that were decorated with spirals. Her metal shield bore an image of a cornucopia. Her silver eyes had a vengeful look to them. She raised her shield and drew a silver sword.

'Bring me the head of Perseus Jackson,' demanded the woman.


	31. Redemption

**An extra long chapter awaits :D It's the 30th chapter in this story. I'm nearly finished with the main plotline, I guess I have about two more chapters to write before the final one. Haven't exactly figured out how to end this yet, but I have some ideas. Hope you enjoy this chapter. Please review.**

 **A special shout out the the Vietnamese person who read my entire story (I guess, not 100% sure) and the person who has given me 55 views today by themselves :D You guys rock.**

* * *

 **Chapter 30 Redemption (Or A Family Affair)**

'Hope?' asked Leanne. Some campers had their hands on the hilts of their swords and daggers.

The woman stared at them for a moment. 'Where am I?'

'You're at the hearth of Camp Half Blood,' said Gina. 'We freed you from the pithos.' She pointed at the pithos standing beside the woman.

'The scent of the sea is strong in you. Poseidon's spawn?'

'Yes ma'am.'

'Then you know who Perseus Jackson is.'

'My half-brother.'

'Then bring me his head,' screamed the woman. 'The lousy demigod kept me sealed in the pithos even when I used the last of my powers to keep the pithos reappearing again and again. He truly is one of the dumbest mortals alive.'

'Hey, that's not nice,' replied Cali.

'Being trapped in a jar is also not nice,' spat the warrior. 'Thousands of years I spent trapped in that thing because people assumed I was to stay in the pithos. Bloody stories.'

'Listen lady, we need to know who you are,' said Lianne. 'We can use all the help we can get to kill Pandora.'

The woman grinned when hearing that last part. 'I am the embodiment of hope. Since you are Graecus I have a strong urge to show you my Greek side, yet I am here as a Roman goddess, Spes. To ease your Greek minds I shall allow you to call me Hope in this form as well. But where is the Roman? I only show myself to Romans.'

'That would be me,' said Sam as he advanced.

'You? A Roman mage?'

'Take my hand and see for yourself,' said Sam stretching out his hand.

Spes grabbed it and squeezed. The demigod in front of here did not flinch. In that instant she felt his fear and the sense of hope that he carried. Beneath all that she could feel a thin lineage to a Roman god. Janus, the father of traitors.

'Indeed you have Roman blood. And you yearn for hope. I shall join you into battle if you promise me Pandora's life.'

'Deal, but her eyes are mine.'

* * *

'I swear I had no idea I had to let her go,' said Percy as everyone in the throne room stared at him. 'Someone could've told me.'

'We couldn't,' said Poseidon. 'Spes is a Roman goddess, we weren't ready to handle two factions at once.'

'Maybe we could've won the war more easily with a goddess by our side,' replied Clarisse. 'She looks like she can handle herself in battle.'

'Like old trident said,' answered Ares, 'the world wasn't ready for the Romans and Greeks to reveal themselves to each other.'

'He said that you weren't ready,' replied Clarisse.

'And we weren't,' replied Hermes. 'With Kronos on the verge of rising, we weren't ready to be confronted with our Roman counterparts.'

'Basically you were scared,' said Lou.

* * *

Alabaster walked towards Pandora's tent. He took a moment to look at their army that they had amassed at their side of the battlefield. The few lycans that had survived the onslaught had deserted shortly after with their king. Pandora promised money for anyone who brought her a scalp. It made Alabaster think that Pandora had a bit of a thing for heads. For the rest they had cyclopes and other monsters and war machines. Their unwilling spy in the camp had not given them much information as before, which concerned Circe who had charmspoken the girl.

'I do not care what happens to the demigods,' spoke Pandora.

Alabaster turned around and spotted an opening in the back of Pandora's tent. He moved closer to it and listened.

'Did you not promise the safety of the mages?' asked Khione.

'Are you stupid?' spat Pandora. 'They're a menace to my plans. Once we have achieved the decimation of Olympus, I will slaughter every one of them in front of Hecate's eyes. I want those pesky little demigods dead and nailed on crosses. If I can't break the gods, I will break their minds.'

Alabaster tensed when he heard the words coming from Pandora's mouth.

'Where is he? I need his magic to sustain me. Go fetch him.'

Alabaster Torrington slowly backed up and walked towards the main entrance of the tent. In the back of his mind, he readied some magic if he needed to escape quickly. The guards grunted at him as he walked in and nearly walked into the snow goddess.

'You summoned me, my lady?'

'We need more magical defences. I don't want another fire figure being able to get so close to our camp. See to it. I also need you to load this letter with magic. If we want to neutralize that little mage we're going to need that sister of his.'

'Shall I get her, my lady? With Circe's help I could easily convince her to come with us.'

'I have sent Iris to fetch her an hour ago,' said Pandora. 'I need you here.' Pandora studied a map of Camp Half Blood as she held out the letter. Alabaster touched it and poured some of his magic in it. He saw letters appearing and vanishing. 'Get going Torrington, we need those defences.'

Alabaster nodded and disappeared from the tent.

* * *

'You're worried,' said Spes as she took a seat next to Sam. 'Your sister?' The goddess pointed at the parchment with the picture.

'Yes, my adopted sister. Pandora wants to hurt her if I don't surrender myself and the pithos to her.'

'Ah, that would have anyone worried,' replied the goddess. 'You're thinking about it, aren't you?'

'What would you have me do? I can't let her die, yet I can't surrender myself and this camp to Pandora. Whatever I choose, I end up disappointing someone.'

'As a former prisoner of Pandora, I say to go after Pandora, but as the goddess of Hope I say follow your heart and save your sister.'

'You're not helping,' said Sam. 'Are you sure the goddess of Hope?'

Spes grinned. 'I see why people like you and others wish to smite you.'

'I get that a lot.'

* * *

Alabaster entered her tent and walked up to her desk where she was sitting. The minor goddess slowly looked up.

'Did you know?' he demanded.

'Know what?'

'That Pandora wants to murder every single demigod in that camp just to torture the gods.'

Circe dropped her pen and stared at her mortal brother. 'What?'

'She's sent Iris to get the little girl. And she wants to eradicate every demigod. She's insane.'

'We already know that,' said Circe. 'She had Medea join us. I should've never taught that woman magic. Speaking of which I haven't seen her lately.'

Alabaster took a seat on Circe's bed. 'I only wanted to be reunited with my siblings, I just wanted to go home.' He picked up his mistform cards and summoned Howard Claymore. 'Oh Great Howard, give me advice.'

'Oh shut up, Torrington,' chastised Claymore pulling on the hem of his robe. 'You should've ditched this woman long ago. I told you that this would end badly. If you really want to do something to help save your brother, you have to remove the unpleasant option from his equation.'

'Does he always talk like this?' asked Circe.

'Unfortunately, Howard is a tad arrogant for a former mortal, but he is also correct. If I want to help them defeat Pandora, I'll have to help my brother.'

'I knew I shouldn't have trusted you,' said Pandora as she walked in wielding a dagger.

The two mages stood up and watched as Pandora was joined by Khione. Pandora was the first to attack. In the blink of an eye she stood before Alabaster and made her move by bringing the dagger to his gut. The blade penetrated his skin and body. A hint of pain went through his body as he held the mage in a hug.

'Go, and save her,' said Howard Claymore. 'It was an honour to have met you, Alabaster.'

'No,' muttered Alabaster before Circe grabbed him and disappeared in a column of fire.

The tent flap caught fire and soon the entire structure was ablaze. Howard Claymore stumbled onto the bed and grabbed the golden blade that laid there. He had seen Alabaster use it many times in combat. He held it out in front of him, but it was no use.

Khione breathed out and in a single motion she had frozen his entire mistform body. She pulled the blade from his grasp and with the flick of her wrist, she shattered the ice covered person, leaving nothing but fragments of glass and blood. Khione followed Pandora outside and handed her the blade.

'Move the troops towards the camp, we're going to eradicate them.'

* * *

They arrived at the house. The front door was opened and yelling was heard from the inside. A loud bang made the two mages run towards the house with the red door. Alabaster ran in first, readying magic in his hand. Circe followed him. They arrived in the main room where they spotted Iris and three goons, they were crouching behind the walls. Circe spotted arrows sticking out of the couch. Archers, she thought with a smile.

Without hesitation, Alabaster knocked the first one out with the magic in his hand. Circe flipped the second one with a flick of her wrist.

Iris attacked the goddess with the contents of the fish tank that stood in the room. The water surprised the goddess and knocked her off her feet. The demi-titan quickly moved as Alabaster was occupied with the third monster in the room. With a small dagger he ended its life.

Circe burned her attacker with magical fire who quickly vanished in gold dust.

'Where is Iris?' asked Circe as she dried herself off.

'Gone,' said Alabaster.

Three arrows suddenly pinned his cloak to the wall. He raised a shield and watched another archer loading another arrow.

'Who are you?' asked woman. 'They were after my daughter.'

'He's a mage,' said the man. 'Look at the runes.'

'Please, lower your weapons,' said Circe. 'We have no intention to harm you. We're here to help you.'

'Sam?'

'At camp,' replied Alabaster. 'He needed our help. I'm his brother, Alabaster Torrington.'

'You're Circe, the goddess,' said the woman. 'Why are you here?'

'Because someone messed with the wrong family,' replied the goddess.

* * *

Sam hurried towards the border with the others. They watched at the enemy forces appeared at the horizon.

'Load the catapults,' yelled Rick. 'Fire at will.'

The first shot came up a bit short, but the second catapult shot was a bullseye. The boulder crushed enemies and scared off others. The other catapult was reloaded and re-aimed.

'It's their entire army,' said Rick. 'They're moving for the final assault. We need more fire power.'

'The borders will hold,' said Sam. 'They have to.'

'They won't,' said Spes. 'Look.'

The goddess pointed to the horizon. Barging through the ranks were two tall figures, at least twenty feet tall. They both wore armour and wielded giant swords. As they appeared at the front of the army, Sam spotted them more clearly.

The first one wore black armour with a black robe being draped on his shoulders. His blue eyes peered from under his helmet. His legs were dragon-like and ash of colour. In his hands he carried a black broadsword. A wicked grin appeared on his face.

The second one was shorter than the first, but seemed more confident with his sledgehammer in his hands. He also wore black armour and had black dragon legs. His black hair glittered with broken boards and electrical wires.

'Gigantes,' said Spes. 'Mimas and Clytius, banes of Hephaestus and Hecate respectively. I can help you with Mimas, but we need another god to slay Clytius.'

'What about her?' asked Cali. She pointed at two figures who appeared on the battlefield in a column of fire. They stared at the two tall figures approaching before turning around and running towards the border. After a moment Sam recognized Alabaster.

They arrived at the border, staring at the group of demigods standing in front of them. Circe looked over her shoulder and saw the army approaching.

'Can we come in?' asked the goddess. 'We would appreciate it.'

'Why should we?' asked Calypso. 'You both helped her create this mess.'

'And now we have helped solve this mess,' replied Alabaster. 'Sam, she's safe. Sarah is safe.'

Sam approached the border. 'How?'

'Your parents held off Iris and her goons, we killed them and chased off Iris. They are alright and we've fortified the house with magical runes. Nobody will be able to hurt her, not even Pandora,' said Circe. 'I'm not letting that crazy bitch near my family ever again.'

'Your family?' asked Cali.

'He's my brother,' said Circe. 'Hecate is my mom too.'

'Get in,' said Sam.

The two stepped through the border and watched the army approaching under the leadership of the two Gigantes with the group of demigods.

'If we can get rid of the Gigantes, we can get another chance tomorrow,' said Rick. 'They're our most prominent problem.'

'Get everyone geared up,' said Sam. 'Load the catapults with whatever you can find. The archers will provide cover fire. George, did you find a shield to my liking?'

'We don't have enough boulders to use,' said Mike.

'I have,' interjected George. 'I'll fetch it.'

Sam sighed. 'Circe, pick out a demigod to fight alongside you against Mimas. Spes, you're with me.'

Suddenly Cali grabbed his hand. 'You sure about this?'

'I'm the only one who can keep Hope in her god-form, so I'm going. Don't worry I'll be fine.'

'Sam, here's that shield.'

Sam turned around and found George standing there with a Roman scutum. He grinningly took it and strapped it to his arm. The weight was light enough to carry, but heavy enough to be able to withstand several blows. Sam immediately set out to lace it with magical runes and cards.

'I do not wish to alarm anybody but there is an army coming straight for us,' said Circe.

'Then delay it. You're a god, aren't you? Same goes for you Spes. Come on, use your godly mumbo jumbo and get them to stop for a while.'

'Godly mumbo jumbo? I swear, if we weren't supposed to work together, I would tear that tongue right out of your mouth,' said Spes.

'Now I know why Pandora wants his tongue,' said Circe with a grin as she and Spes held hands and watched the army. A wall of fire appeared in front of the army which made most of them jump. 'That won't last long.'

'It'll have to be enough. Torrington, you're with me. We need to empty cabin 20 before we tear it down.'

'Tear down Cabin 20?' asked Cali. 'What for?'

'Magical bricks,' was the reply.

* * *

'The hell is he gonna do,' said Ronan. 'That's our home.'

'It's a bloody weapon,' said John. 'They need it. I just hope that Torrington is telling the truth.'

'He is,' said Hecate. 'He has no reason to lie. It has always been his greatest wish to be allowed back.'

'There was a reason why we exiled him,' said Zeus.

'And there is a reason why he saved my brother's sister and offered his help,' said Lou. 'I know what he has done, but from what I can see he's trying to turn that around. And I don't see you doing much to help them.'

'Why you little…' started Zeus as he touched the master bolt.

'Why don't we all just calm down and watch what happens,' said Hestia, staring at her brother.

* * *

After a quick sweep the two mages alongside Calypso had scavenged the entire house and found several personal items that they had placed in boxes with the names of every inhabitant on them. After that Alabaster had used a detection spell to find a secured room in the basement. It held several items which were mostly magical items and potions. They took several of them with them as they sealed the room back off and used a magical code to make it disappear thanks to instructions found in a book in Lou's room. It also contained a manual on how to reset the score board. Sam had quickly ripped out the page when the others weren't watching.

Once back outside, Calypso used one of John's infinity pouches to carry the boxes to the Big House and store them over there. Sam stood beside Alabaster and inspected the work on the dismantling of Cabin 20. Zeus campers and Hermes campers with winged shoes were removing the shingles one by one and brought them back down. According to Alabaster they were loaded with magic and could be used as magical items.

'We could use them to make protective talismans,' said Sam. 'I know some decent spells we could use.'

With the roof being missing, the demigods slowly started removing the stones, effectively stripping Cabin 20 into the interior design of the actual cabin version of the house. They made sure that the entire cabin was surrounded with sheets and covers, to make sure that no piece of brick to land on actual ground.

'Take those bricks to the catapults and have them fire them at the enemy. Tell them to aim for the back of the army,' said Sam. 'I don't want anybody getting blown to bits by friendly fire.'

The messenger nodded and joined the first load of stones towards the catapults.

'Time to gear up,' said Alabaster.

Sam nodded.

* * *

They all stood on the top of Half Blood Hill. The wall of fire had subsided and the enemy army stood waiting for the demigods. Snow had begun to fall once more.

'Everybody ready?' Sam stood next to Spes with George and Circe next to him. Cali and Alabaster had also joined them on the front line. All were wearing their respective armours with protective talismans and brandishing bronze or silver weapons. 'For Olympus!'

'For Olympus!'

The demigod troops ran down the hill and stormed towards the enemy. Alabaster stayed on top of the hill and summoned magical support by shielding the troops from the arrows with magical shields. Then the armies clashed.

Spes stayed by Sam's side as they made their way to the Gigant of their choice. They had chosen Clytius while Circe and George were on their way to defeat Mimas. After striking down several monsters, the goddess pulled Sam with her and together they stood before Clytius. The Giant stood several feet away and stared down on them.

'Aha the little mage has come for me,' laughed the Giant. 'Let's see if you're as good as they say.' The Gigant brought down his sword.

Spes parried the strike with her own sword and Sam moved towards his legs and used his axe and some power magic to cut off one of his toes. Clytius howled in pain as he moved his foot and tried to stomp Sam as he retreated. Growling, Clytius attacked the grown goddess who again parried the strike and returned the attack by slamming her shield into his face. Sam continued his guerrilla attacks on the Giant's toes by chopping at them while Spes kept him busy.

Sam had just cut off the second little toe as Spes got knocked down by Clytius. He continued is attack by bringing down his sword on Sam who raised his shield and used his powers to strengthen the shield and his own body, but even so, Sam felt the power crushing him. The ground where he stood on was being cracked.

The sound of thunder reverberated through the air and suddenly a couple of lightning strikes struck Clytius. The Giant roared and backed off. Spes regained her senses and slammed him to the ground with her shield. Sam nodded at Spes who held out her sword while Sam used his magic to engulf it in flames. The Roman goddess then proceeded to thrust her blade into the monster's chest. He vanished.

As they had defeated the first Giant, Sam and Spes joined the other couple in their fight against Mimas. Circe held Mimas at bay with bursts of fire, while George attacked him without rest.

'You fools,' laughed Mimas. 'You cannot plan to kill me. Plans fail every time.'

The four of them combines their forces with Sam and Circe providing magical attacks and Spes and George going in for the physical attacks. Mimas tried to defend himself, but the randomness of Sam's and George's attacks threw him off guard. Soon Spes was able to get him on the ground with a tackle, after which George used his own hammer to crush his skull.

Without the backing of two Giants, Pandora's forces retreated slowly. Most of the monsters got annihilated by the archers and marksmen as they tried to escape. Alabaster used his magical powers to create a shield that gave Harley and her crew enough time to patch up the worst injuries while the demigods retreated beyond the borders.

'We made it,' said Cali as she took of her helmet and drank from a canteen.

'Yeah,' replied Sam as he took a seat in the middle of the battlefield and took off his prosthesis. 'We made it alright. How are the injured?'

'Several got hurt pretty badly, they'll be out for a long time,' replied Calypso. 'I say we lost about a third of our troops today.'

'At least we got rid of the Giants,' said Sam. 'Now we only have Pandora and Khione to worry about.'

The demigods relaxed for a moment as the minor injured got treated and Alabaster lowered the shield as the enemies continued their way back to their own camp. Circe was talking to Spes and some demigods even laughed as they drank nectar and ate pieces of ambrosia.

'Incoming!'

They all jumped up and saw a large amount of arrows up in the sky. The elder mages reacted on instinct and created a shield and burned a large portion of the arrows in mid-flight. The sound of crashing arrows was broken by the sound of a blade tearing through a body.

Alabaster stood for a couple of seconds, before falling on his back. Pandora stood a few yards away with a smirk on her face and vanished into thin air. A gurgle escaped from his throat.

Circe screamed as she knelt down beside him. Sam dragged himself over to his siblings as well. Spes joined them too.

'You'll be alright, Stranger. Get a medic over here!' Circe held his hand.

Alabaster let out a laugh that drowned in blood.

'I've made some bad choices in life,' he said.

'Do not speak, they'll get the medic,' said Sam.

'Don't bother,' he said grinning. 'I'm going to die. I made some bad choices in life. I have blood on my hands that I can't wash off.'

Alabaster coughed once more as he touched the golden blade that was embedded in his own gut. The handle was smeared with blood. Snow had gathered on the top of the handle.

'Tell them I'm sorry for what I have done. I can only hope that the judges are merciful.'

'Shut up,' Circe spat. 'I will not let you die on this battlefield.'

'Make me,' he replied with a grin. 'I have one final trick up my sleeve, I can only hope that it gives you an advantage.' He stared at Sam and grinned. 'A little bird told me you enjoy chance magic.'

He mumbled a incantation. A bright light came from his body. The light floated away and drew something in the air. Suddenly the lines were filled and created ten foot walls bearing magic runes. As the light in his eyes died, he smiled.

Sam stared at the walls that stood before him. They covered the entire battlefield. Tears welled up in his eyes as he realized what it was. He could sense it. With his dying breath, Alabaster Torrington had created a maze to keep their enemies busy.

* * *

On Olympus, Hecate and the residents of Cabin 20 stared at the screen in shock. The goddess fell to her knees as Hestia held her in a hug. Lou felt nothing, nothing but seething rage. The wars had already taken so much from her.

She focused magic in her fist and slammed it into one of the pillars which got dented and stared to crumble. Before she could do it again, a pair of hands grabbed her and held her in a hug as well. John pressed her head against his shoulder as he sensed the magic dissipating. Tears rolled down his cheeks.


	32. Promises

**Chapter 31 is here :D Awesome, right? Unfortunately it also means that we've nearly reached the end of this story. I have not yet written the grand finale, but I have some scenes mapped out.**

 **Many thanks for all the views of the past week :D We've officially passed the 2.500 mark, which is awesome considering I had no great hopes for this story in terms of views. A special shout out to DAK11296 for his review (#10!) and views: Thanks bro, it is really appreciated :D I'll try to give you an ending that will blow you away.**

* * *

 **Chapter 31 Promises**

They all stood in the amphitheatre staring at the funeral pyre that was ablaze. Circe had prepared everything needed to send off Alabaster, but had given Sam the torch to light the dry pieces of wood. Within seconds the fire had spread.

'He truly was the greatest mage,' said Sam staring at the flames that slowly consumed the body draped in black cloth. 'He built the maze with his dying breath.'

'Death releases large amounts magical energy,' replied Circe. 'It is known that mages are capable of great feats upon their death, that's why we were feared in ancient times. The death of a mage could ensure his wrath from beyond the grave. Alabaster used his last powers to help him get redemption.'

'How do we stop her?' asked Sam. 'How do we stop Pandora?'

'Burn her to a crisp,' replied Circe.

That night, Sam stared at the stars that shined in the dark. He was lying in his bed, in his semi-destructed room. Almost all bricks had been taken to the catapults and were currently being used to bombard the enemies that roamed the labyrinth. The first enemies were transformed into trees, while another brick had them all blown to bits.

'How are you holding up?' asked Cali as she walked into his room.

'Not,' came his reply. 'I don't know how much I can handle anymore, my stump hurts and just want to go back to the jolly old camp from before.'

'Well that's going to be hard, but you could go see Harley for that stump, Peg.'

'Can't, she'll have my head, again.'

Cali huffed and laid beside him and watched the starry sky. 'Do you think we'll make it?'

'I honestly I don't know. We have the skills, but we could always use more manpower.'

'We have enough firepower,' said Cali. 'Use your fire skills and torch that monster.'

'You need a warrior to slay those monsters,' said Sam, 'Last time I checked, I got my ass handed to me by a Hunter.'

'Yet you whacked a Gigant with the help of goddess, there aren't many of us who can say that. That flaming blade was pretty cool.'

'Spur of the moment thing really, we needed fire to slay Clytius and Spes had her blade ready. Can I ask you a question?'

'Sure.'

'What's with the necklace? I've seen almost everyone wearing one.' Sam pointed to her strong with two beads on it.

'It's the camp necklace,' replied Cali. 'You get one in the first year at camp. Each year a bead is designed to commemorate the greatest event of the summer.' She showed Sam the first one. It was a blue one with a storm depicted on it. 'The year I joined, sort of lost control of my powers and wrecked a cabin and a couple of boats.' The second one was black and featured a half sun/half moon symbol. 'The year Apollo went a bit whack and a quest was mounted to bring back the Greek sun. Living in eternal night for a week wasn't fun.'

'Neat.'

'It beats the Romans, they get tattoos burned on their arms. I heard it hurts like hell.'

The two fell silent as they watched the stars.

'Sam,' yelled Circe from outside. 'We need you!'

The two demigods climbed out of bed and walked over to the edge of the second floor and stared at Circe who stood below them with a grin on her face. A flame flickered in her palm.

* * *

The throne room was silent. Some were eating food conjured by Hestia and Hera, but not Lou Ellen. She sat against one of the walls and watched the engravings on the pillars that kept the roof from falling on their heads.

'You have to eat,' said Annabeth Chase as she took a seat next to the eldest mage.

'Not hungry.'

'Wasn't asking,' was the reply. Annabeth held out a bowl of soup and spoon towards Lou.

'Piss off, I'm not hungry. I need to get out of here, Sam needs our help. Even with his powers, the labyrinth won't give them the strength to take down Pandora.'

'Circe and Spes are gods, they'll have his back, not to speak of Cali and the others. They'll be fine. Now eat, before I tell your mother.'

Lou sighed and ate some. 'That's a low blow.'

'Don't care, I won't have you crumbling down. Aren't you Lou Ellen, warrior mage? This isn't the Lou who defeated thirty boys in hand to hand combat and only got a small cut because she was too cocky.'

'Yeah this is war torn Lou, who had her sister die in front of her. I just can't stand being so helpless, so not helpful.'

'That makes two of us,' replied Annabeth. 'I got siblings down there as well.'

'We all do,' replied Percy as he strolled over with a handful of blue cookies and gave one to Lou.

* * *

They walked over to the border and spotted Jane standing next to the border and some campers pointed weapons to her.

'What's going on here?' demanded Sam as he broke through the demi-circle.

'She was talking some mumbo jumbo and the border rippled before vanishing,' replied Mike as he lifted his axe.

'She touched the border,' added Liam.

'Jane?' asked Sam. He watched as the girl had tears streaming down her face.

'I swear,' she stammered. 'I have no idea what I was doing. One moment I was sitting in my cabin, the next I'm standing here with swords being pointed at my neck.' She sobbed as she spoke.

'I know what happened,' replied Circe.

Sam turned to his half-sister. 'What?'

'I charmspoke her into doing Pandora's bidding. We used her to guide some magic to the camp. We got the Nemean Lion in the camp this way. I'm guessing Pandora just asked her to dispel the border. It was already weakened when the gods got separated from the camp.'

Circe pushed through the crowd and walked over to Jane and stared straight in her eyes and spoke some ancient language. Jane immediately collapsed, but the goddess picked her up before she touched the ground.

'This girl is not to blame, I am,' spoke Circe. 'If anyone has a problem with that, I'd be happy to solve that with fight, just like the good old days.'

Nobody reacted as Circe carried Jane off of Half Blood Hill towards her own cabin.

* * *

'She was always the feistiest one,' said Hecate with a small smile. 'Couldn't care less about a proper education, always wanted to see the world until she found her island.'

'I know what that means,' said Poseidon. 'Triton and Kym were always so competitive. Kym would often lose and unleash storms. It took hours, even days, to calm her down.'

'And now I am a grown mother,' replied the sea goddess. 'I was a foolish girl.'

'You still are,' said Percy with a smile.

'Look who's talking, Kelp Head.'

'She's got a point,' said Lou.

'Yeah, don't you start talking,' said Suzan. 'Remember that time where she tried to make that Potter potion? The cabin reeked for two weeks.'

'Please, don't remind me,' said John. 'I think I have a shirt that still smells.'

'You guys are so mean,' said Lou with a pout.

'We all learned from the master,' said Ronan, while Jade and Mia acknowledged. 'Remember when these two.' He pointed at John and Suzan. 'Went off to the arena and nearly got it destroyed with their magic.'

'I swear, I'm going to turn you all into piglets when we get back. I'll have some quiet time for once.'

'Like the quiet time when you and Charlotte team up?' said Ronan.

The group fell silent and stared at the youngest mage. Lou's face went from pale to bright red.

'Ro, run, fast,' said John.

Ronan dashed off with Lou following a second later.

* * *

The next morning Sam sat at his dining pavilion table and drew some things in his new notebook. The pavilion had been modified so that it could be used for meals again in the snowy conditions. His mind had wandered from the battles and the progress Pandora seemed to make in finding her way in the labyrinth to the little ones.

They had become more restless by the day and keeping them busy wasn't working as well as it had done in the first week. It was Harry who had led the 'mutiny' in the crafts cabin. They demanded more food and people telling them what was happening. The counsellors had succeeded in getting their respective little ones to their cabins, but the problem still persisted. One of these days they would have to tell them.

'What are you doing?' asked Jessica as she sat across from him at his table in the pavilion.

'Designing a game,' said Sam. 'Remember the quest? Kind of like that, but in a board game for the little ones.'

'Let me guess, you'll need some help with the quests?'

'You're always welcome to help,' replied Sam with a grin.

'Let me see.'

Sam showed her his designs. There was the board that could be expanded if needed. It was to have a couple of maps 'programmed' into it, such as Camp Half Blood, Olympus and others. He had also designed a couple of enemies and protagonists that could be used. The gods could be used to help them on quests.

'A bit like Dungeons and Dragons, but with Greek Mythology? I like it. It needs some work, but it would be awesome. Eve, take a look at this.'

Eve walked over from the fire and took a seat next to Jessica. She scanned the pages.

'Pretty cool. I you want, we could help out with the designs, you know, Apollo being the god of art and stuff.'

'Thanks,' said Sam before stuffing his mouth with eggs and potatoes.

'Sam, how are you going to end this war?' asked Eve. 'I'm not complaining about anything, but that labyrinth won't keep out Pandora out forever. Even with our bombardments, she's made pretty good progress. Her best scouts have reached the centre of the maze.'

'Honestly, I have no clue. I only know that Pandora needs to die if we want the gods and the others back.'

'As long as you don't do anything stupid we're good,' said Jessica. 'Hurt Cali and I'll have your balls hanging on your chin.'

Sam only stared at Jessica as Eve nodded. 'I promise I won't do anything stupid.'

* * *

Later that day Sam stood on top of Half Blood Hill and found himself watching Pandora's forces making their way through the labyrinth.

'You're not thinking what I thinking, right?' asked Cali. 'Don't worry about Jess, I've talked her out of it, for now.'

'We have to do something soon, if we want to end it. We're low on food, Pandora is closing in and everybody is getting tired and weary.'

'But you're not the only one that needs to do something, you don't have to carry the weight of the world on your shoulders.'

'Don't worry, Atlas has that covered.'

'I'm not kidding,' said Cali. 'We'll figure out something.'

'Of course we will.'

* * *

That evening Sam had been writing for a couple of hours and he had just finished the last letter when he heard a noise. He put the letter in the correct envelope and placed the envelope in the box with the lock. He locked the box.

'You should not lie to your friends, Sam,' said Spes as she showed herself in the cabin.

'I know, but there is no other option. If I don't use it, we might lose our only chance. You've seen them, we won't last long once they get through the labyrinth. I will not have innocent blood on my hands.'

'I get that, but you don't have to do it. And remember, I get her life, you get the eyes.'

'That's why I packed this.' Sam pulled a spoon from his pocket and grinned.

Spes shook her head before staring Sam straight in the eyes. 'You're terrified, aren't you?'

'How can you tell?'

'Because you're hoping that no one will be able to see you later tonight and you hoping that it'll be worth it.'

Sam took a seat and watched the goddess doing the same. 'What's life without hope?'

'A pretty sad one,' replied Circe stepping from the shadows. 'I'm no fool, Sam. I've been sensing your idea the moment Alabaster died and I won't allow it, I will not lose another brother.'

'You have no say in the matter,' replied Sam.

'Yes I do,' said Circe. 'I'll have you bound and gagged if necessary.'

'I meant that you won't stop me. You've seen what they're like, they won't last an hours once Pandora barges through the door. I am the best option and I need you in this camp.'

'What for?'

'Somebody has to keep them safe while I go after Pandora. Take a seat Circe.'

The goddess felt her arm move and pulling back a chair. 'Wha…What have you done? This can't be.' She sat herself down, confusion setting in.

Sam showed her a small vial with a black liquid in it. 'You know what this is, Lou and you are the only ones who can make it besides mom. I've only taken a small sip an hour ago and look what I can do with it.'

'You mustn't,' said Circe. 'You have no sigil to counter the effects. It'll ruin you. Please, don't do this.'

'I need you to do one more thing before we set off,' said Sam as he took off his cloak and T-shirt. 'I need you to draw these symbols on my back.' Sam showed her a piece of paper.

Circe's anger vanished as she smiled. 'You magnificent bastard. No need to charmspeak me, I won't be able to change your mind. But one day I'll come to give you all the hate I'll get for doing this tenfold.' Circe gave her brother a hug before she turned him around and used a bluish paint to paint the symbols on his back.

* * *

He had drunk the entire liquid and was now marching towards the archway with Spes by his right and Circe to his left. Energy raged through his veins and he felt happy and fearless. On his back he had strapped the Roman shield, while he held his axes in his hands. He had collected two entire decks of cards and placed them into the pouches on his belt.

As he approached the archway, he spotted a couple of people standing there, weapons drawn. As if they were guarding it from him. Cali's look was pure anger.

'You said that we'd figure it out together,' she said as a tear fell down.

'I know, but I have to do this. I am the only one who can end her.' Sam slowly made his way to her and held her as she struggled. 'I love you Cali, from the moment I first saw you.'

'Don't say that, I hate you right now.'

Sam ignored the remark and pecked her on the cheek. 'You can hate me all you want, I still love you.' He pulled his headphones and mp3-player from pocket in his cloak and hung the headphones around her neck. 'Take care of that for me, will you?' He pushed the mp3-player into her hands.

He walked towards the archway until he found a hand pulling him back. 'Listen Cali.' He turned around and stood face to face with Harley.

'You stupid kid,' she spat before she hugged him. 'May the gods be merciful.'

Before he could react everyone said goodbye whilst also calling him the worst things with a smile. Lianne was the last one.

'Give them hell, boy.' He slapped him. 'Don't you dare lose, I will not be the one who couldn't defeat the boy who lost to Pandora,' she whispered as she hugged him.

'Bite me.'

'I'll hold you to that.'

Sam joined Spes at the archway before looking back one final time.

'It was an honour. And for the record, this isn't stupid, it's reckless.' He shot a smile at Jess and Eve who both flipped him off.

And with that Sam and Spes held hands before disappearing through the archway.


	33. Flash Flood

**Hi! The next chapter is here :) Hope you enjoy it. Not sure how many chapters I have left to write, but depending on the length, this might very well be the penultimate chapter in the life of Sam Parker, demigod with a mouth. The latin phrase is written with the help of Google Translate, so don't shoot me if it ain't correct. A special shout out to FieryUnicorn43 for the latest favourite. Thanks :D And for Luna Space there is also a little surprise in this chapter :) Please review.**

* * *

 **Chapter 32 Flash Flood**

They watched as Circe painted the symbols on his back. The lines slowly making sense on the blank canvas that was his skin. The eldest mage wept silently with a smile on her face as her mother held her in a motherly hug as they stared at the screens that showed the same image of Circe finishing the drawings. The other mages sat close to their mom. John held his youngest siblings as Suzan tried drying her tears. Hecate squeezed her shoulder.

'What happening?' asked Annabeth. 'You all look as if he's done something great, but incredibly stupid.'

'Those symbols,' said Thalia. 'They have a meaning, don't they?'

'The one at the base of his neck is a enhancer of sorts,' said John. 'Do we have a name for it?'

'It's a symbol that supresses the act of self-preservation,' said Suzan as she stared at Annabeth. 'Look at it like this: magic is a wild river and a mage's body and mind are a hydro-electrical dam. The mage is the dam that controls the flow of magic, that's why we get tired after excessive use of magic, it wears us out.'

'Normally,' continued Lou. 'When Sam would be too tired to do magic, he'd shut down to recover. Sleep, coma, whatever. If a mage trains, he becomes stronger. The dam allows for a greater flow of magic. Any idea what happens when the river grows too powerful for the dam?'

'The dam breaks,' said Percy. 'Sam would break.'

Lou nodded. 'The symbol on his neck will allow him to unleash magical force beyond his limit, it's a suicidal move.'

'What about the other one,' asked Will. 'It reminds me of your symbols.'

The mages stared at each other and their mother smiled. The goddess spoke.

'It a sigil. Something truly unconventional, as a sigil is given, not created. A sigil allows for a great amount of magic to be stored in it. Trained mages use it as a backup source in times of need.'

'That potion he drank was a potion that allows for a massive boost in magical energy,' said Lou. 'He drank that entire vial, while I can only limit my intake to a third of it with long-lasting side-effects.'

'So, a large amount of energy, a wild river if you like contained in the sigil,' said Thalia. 'Plus a dam that will surely crumble under the pressure equals a flash flood if I get this right.'

The room fell silent as the weight of those words sunk in. Mia Black was the first of the mages to speak.

'Have you guys noticed what the sigil looks like?'

'A dragon,' said Ronan. 'You know, the curved things are its wings, while the other line is it's body.'

'I would've sworn he was going for a battle axe,' muttered John.

'This is going to be interesting,' said Lou with a sad smile.

* * *

He retched as the goddess rubbed his back. Sam was leaning against one of the walls as the magical energy flowed through him. The feeling of euphoria lingered on his mind as the first aches and waves of nausea had hit him the first hour they had walked around in the labyrinth.

'We have to reach the centre of the labyrinth fast,' whispered Sam. 'They have made camp there.'

'You're a walking wreck, mage. We'll take our time and strike when the moment lets us.'

'I don't know how much longer I'll be able to remain myself. The magic wants out and I am tempted to release it.'

'Take a minute to recompose, I'll cover us. Why don't you talk for a bit?'

Sam laughed as he spat. 'A goddess who wants to hear me speak? That's something else.' He slid onto the ground and sighed. 'The labyrinth is nice. Easy construction, allows for fast additions. The walls will hold if someone were to use brute force to knock through the walls.'

'Chance and logic are the only ways out,' grinned Spes.

'The only way out is through me,' said Sam with a grim grin as he used his axe to get back onto his feet.

'You're one crazy demigod, Sam Parker,' remarked the goddess as they continued their way towards the centre of the labyrinth.

* * *

'What do you mean, you can't find the way out?' asked Iris.

Her subordinate flinched as he stared her in the eyes. 'This thing keeps changing form. The men are scared, there is a shadow hunting the scouts.'

Iris lifted the man by his collar. 'I don't care, it is one man against an entire army. Find him and bring him here. Take more men with you and find us the exit out of this damned maze.' She dropped him and turned away. She heard the men walking away, while Aria made her way towards her.

'You're worried,' said the daughter of Lype.

'You've seen what Pandora has done with Alabaster and Medea. Who says that we'll survive her once we win this war?'

'Getting the head of Sam parker could be a great help,' said Aria. 'Shouldn't we be looking for him? I can sense him walking around in the maze. His pain is calling out to me.'

'We stay put and watch the other do the dirty work,' replied the demi-titan.

* * *

Their shields blocked the first attacks. Spes was the first to retaliate. Her blade vanquished the monsters with a single swing. Sam's axe embedded itself in the neck of the demi-titan who died with blood pooling around him. More enemies appeared at either side of the corridor.

'We have no time for this,' grumbled Sam. He focused on the symbols on his back and pushed the magic into his fingertip. With swift motion he drew a lightning bolt that stretched out into a red streak of light that pierced the enemies on his side. Bodies slumped to the ground as Sam pulled Spes around the corner. With no enemies in sight, Sam let go and vomited once more. Blood was mixed in it and so were some black threads. The goddess offered him a flask of nectar diluted with water. Sam took a swig.

'You need to rest,' said the goddess. 'You look as if you haven't eaten in days.'

'I'm using every ounce of strength to keep the magic contained,' spat Sam. 'It's already leaking out.'

'Then let it go,' said the goddess. 'Don't be so stubborn.'

'We need to be close to Pandora if I want this to work, that's why I need to ask you a favour.'

'You need me in my Greek form,' replied the goddess. 'I just read your mind.'

'I can hide you more easily if you were a spirit. _I need Hope_ ,' finished Sam in ancient Greek.

The goddess nodded and a bright light enveloped her. The figure of the goddess vanished and out of the light stepped a sixteen year old girl, wearing a simple gown. Armoured sandals poked from under it. Her silver eyes studied him as she toyed with her honey blond braid.

'Hope?'

'Yes Sam,' replied Hope in ancient Greek. 'This is my Greek form, the spirit of Hope.'

'I need you to hide inside one of my weapons. It'll be the easiest way to get you close to Pandora to finish her off. Remember, I get the eyes.'

'I'll gut her,' replied Hope with a grim smile. 'The eyes will be safe.'

Sam spoke the incantation and the spirit of hope slowly disappeared into the blade he carried on his back. The young demigod felt another wave of nausea coming up as he tried to lift his battle axe and shield. He staggered through the maze as his vision blurred. Sam stopped for a second and regained his vision. Sam watched the enemies at the centre of the labyrinth and grinned before a knock on the head had everything turning black.

* * *

One of Iris' men slapped the bound demigod in his face. The boy woke up and tried to move, but the chains held him in place. She had seen the tattoos on his back, but couldn't guess what they meant. He was now staring her right in the eye with that stupid grin of his on his face.

'I was hoping to end this war without having to see your face ever again,' said Sam. Beads of sweat appeared on his face. A grimace appeared on his face.

'Alas the Fates have decided otherwise. You are now once again my prisoner.' Iris pointed at the chains and the pile of stuff that laid beside him. Weapons just out of reach. 'I was told to handle you with care, Pandora seems to have a thing for you. I think she even fears you.'

'So should you. When I get out of these chains, I'll end your miserable life.'

Iris laughed and had him chained up to a pole in the centre of the circle. One of the guards kicked him in the ribs. They left him alone. Sam thought it was they were waiting for Pandora to grant her the satisfaction of killing him. He saw someone approaching him. She was holding a bowl of water. Not a drop was spilled as she crouched next to him. Aria soaked a piece of cloth in the water and pressed it again is forehead.

'You shouldn't talk like that,' replied Aria. 'I can sense the pain, it's eating you up. And you look like you've been sick for a few days now. From what I get, I give you a couple of hours at most.' She cleaned his face.

'Just in time for Pandora to finish me off, pretty convenient.'

'Stupid boy,' whispered Aria as she wiped up the blood that trickled from the corner of his mouth.

'I was kind of hoping you'd help me out. You never seemed to be fully immersed in the 'revering Pandora'-thing. Even when you tortured me with Iris, I had a feeling that you did it out of fear, not joy.'

Aria ignored that last remark. 'How is your camp doing?'

'Pretty good things considered. We have games and marshmallows every day. Good food during the day and days at the beach or the lake on really warm days,' replied Sam. 'Maybe you could come and check it out.'

'Very funny,' said Aria rolling her eyes.

'Not joking, we have good food.'

Aria huffed and removed Sam's prosthesis, showing the inflamed skin that used to be his stump. 'Jeez, that looks horrible.'

'I've had worse.'

Before she could react, horn was sounded and from one of the corridors came a troops of people. Khione was the first to appear, with Pandora following suit. The air in the centre of the labyrinth became colder instantly.

Iris and Aria bowed to Pandora as the woman stood before them. She gazed at their prisoner, the thorn in her side. Pandora walked towards him and showed him a wicked smile.

'So we meet again,' said Pandora.

'It seems to be a recurring thing today,' said Sam as he shifted positions. He now sat on his knee with his hands in front of him.

'You are ill,' spoke Pandora. 'This is not how I had imagined things. I thought I'd put a blade through your heart after a long battle. And then I'd take your tongue as a trophy.'

'Yeah, I imagined it somehow like this too, but I would take your eyes and let someone else finish you off.'

'But seeing you here, I've changed my mind. Aria my dear, will you come over?'

Aria shuffled towards them.

'Iris, get a fire going and tell Oracus to prepare to branding iron. We will have him branded and begging for death after we've killed his little camper friends. Aria, please come over and use your powers sweetie.'

Aria knelt beside Sam and touched his chest.

'Make him relive the most painful memory he has.'

Aria nodded and energy surged as Sam's eyes widened in shock.

* * *

It was a cold day. The roads were covered in a layer of snow, with more snow falling from the skies. The heater was turned on and warm air had filled the car. The wipers went back and forth as the drums continued their solo on the radio.

'You missed the turn,' said Sam. He was staring out of the window and turned to his father who was driving.

The man was in his mid-forties, had brown hair that was cut short and who always seemed to wear his black jacket with the white aces on the breast pocket. Sam saw his faint reflection in the glasses that his father wore.

'No, I did not,' replied Paul with a cheeky grin.

'But the movie theatre is down that way,' said Sam with an increasingly whiny voice.

'We're not going to the movies, I'm taking you ice skating. Your mother loved to do that.'

'But we were going to see Monsters University,' whined Sam.

'We'll do that tomorrow,' said Paul. 'I'll even buy you chocolates.'

'I wanna go today,' said Sam as he crossed his arms.

Paul laughed. 'You look so like your mother when you do that. Come on, I promise ice-skating will eb fun. We can get hot cocoa after?'

Sam huffed, but actually wanted the cocoa. It had always been his favourite.

'Here comes the tickle monster,' said his father turning towards him and reaching out to tickle him. Sam saw a flash before his eyes. Three old women standing from a distance. One of them held a pair of scissors.

Then it happened. The sound was deafening. Windows broke into pieces while the metal folded around them. They got thrown around, while Sam screamed at the top his lungs. He felt a hand pushing him again the seat. The car continued moving after which it crashed against a pair of cars. Sam had felt a sharp sting in his leg, but his chest hurt even more.

'Dad?' he called out.

Sam turned around. His head hurt, his eyes became blurry. He pushed the button and the seatbelt loosened. The car was squished between the parked cars and the truck that had slammed it. His father hung lifelessly in his seatbelt. His head oozing blood. More blood was on the gearshift.

'Dad?'

Sam moved, ignoring the pain in his leg. He shook his father, but he did not react. The glasses fell off of his face. More blood ran down his face.

'Oh my god,' said a voice from outside the car. 'Operator? I call to report an accident.'

Sam cried as he shook his father to no avail. Suddenly a cloaked figure stood beside the car. His golden eyes stared at Sam. The figures disappeared while the sound of fluttering wings got replaced with sirens blaring. Sam continued to shake his father as the pain in his leg became sharper and sharper.

* * *

They watched him wither and wail in pain as Oracus prepared the branding iron. Sam clutched the ground and screamed as he touched his leg.

'Enough,' said Iris. 'Aria, let him go.'

'Are you not agreeing with my methods,' asked Pandora.

'She's been replaying that moment for an hour now. If we continue he'll be of no use to get us out of the labyrinth. He'll be a wreck.'

Aria held Sam in a hug as she cried silently.

Pandora stood up from the table and slapped Iris in the face. 'You dare question my authority? I'll have you hanged for this!'

Iris drew a blade and walked towards Sam. She pushed Aria away who crawled away from them and sat beside the pile of Sam's personal belongings. Iris pulled Sam upright and held the dagger to his neck. 'Make a move and I'll have him drowning in his own blood, you can kiss your victory goodbye.'

The next moment a scream reverberated against the walls of the labyrinth. Iris laid on the ground without any legs. Shards of ice glittered in the sunlight as they melted into the pool of blood. An invisible force had a rope coil around her neck and lift her up. The demi-titan commander flailed at she turned red.

Pandora and Khione watched her choke. Blood spattered their faces. After minutes of gargling sounds, Iris' body went limp and the rope let her fall to the ground. All monsters and demi-mortals stared at their former commander.

'With that out of the way, we can continue the festivities. Oracus, the iron.'

The cyclops ignored the request and stared at something behind her.

Pandora turned around and found Sam standing on one leg, with a deck of cards laying on the table in front of him. He flicked his wrist and five cards floated in the air before laying themselves on the table. An ace of clubs, ace of spades, eight of clubs and an eight of spades with a king of clubs as the kicker. Blood drawn with Iris' dagger trickled on each of the cards. The cards started glowing, so did Sam's eyes. A red aura enveloped him. Sam grinned.

'Draco Maxima Ignis.'

* * *

The flames grew larger and larger until they formed the form of a dragon. Wings spread bursts of heat with every motion, while its tail already scorched a part of the labyrinth. A red aura flowed straight into the dragon, seemingly powering it. The mythical beast roared and dived back down burning the air around it. Amidst the screams of agony, the beast moved through the labyrinth, scorching the earth and walls it touched and leaving nothing but ash and gold dust in its wake. The dragon made its way through the entire structure and turned its head to the centre of the labyrinth. The beast roared and vanquished the goddess of snow to unknown parts, while it seemed to grin when it saw Pandora standing nailed to the ground. Its mouth opened and roared a split moment before it ate the mother of all mortals.

Moments later the dragon vanished in a burst of red light.

'You lousy magician,' spat Pandora as she staggered to her feet. There was nothing left of her but a body covered in third degree burns. A breeze swept over the battlefield now that the maze had vanished with the dragon. 'If I can't have Olympus, I'll settle for your head.'

Sam tried to move, but nothing he wanted to do happened. The pain in his body was everywhere. He watched Pandora making her way towards him across scorched soil. In an instant she stood before him. Even with all of this, it hadn't been enough. She truly was too strong for them. She raised a dagger. The sound of a blade tearing through a body was heard. Pandora dropped the dagger and stared at the golden sword blade sticking out of her gut. She turned around and saw her archenemy smiling at her.

'That's for killing Alabaster with a cheap move. This is leaving me to rot in that jar,' said Hope as she embedded her own blade into Pandora's chest.

Pandora fell down and coughed. She couldn't move. From the corner of her eye she saw someone approaching her. A body was being dragged across the ground. The dirty face of Sam Parker floated above her. He grinned that stupid grin of his. He twirled the spoon in his hand.

'This is for going after my sister.'

The sharp edge buried itself in her eye socket.

Moments later Sam was lying on his back onto a patch of green grass that had survived the dragon. He felt a hand laying on his chest. The pain disappeared and the cold came. He stared Aria in the eyes.

'Thanks.'

'No problem,' said Aria as tears rolled down her face.

The sound of rumbling thunder was heard and suddenly energy filled the battlefield. Last of the monsters were vanquished by the gods and returned demigods.

Lou was the first to appear by his side. 'I'm here, Sam, I'm here. You'll be fine. Someone get Harley! Apollo!'

'It's no use,' rasped Sam. 'It was magical fire.'

Lou stared at him and shook her head. 'No, no, no. You stupid kid.'

'I love you too, don't worry I'll be fine. I have been waiting for this for a long time.'

The winged god appeared by their side. His golden eyes were sad, but he smiled. 'It is time.'

'Go away, he's not yours!' screamed Lou. She charged magic in her hand, ready to attack the god of Death, but another hand stopped her. Hecate held her daughter in a tight hug as she screamed.

The crowd parsed and the campers came running in full gear. Cali did not slow down until her mother held her back.

'Sam! Sam! Why isn't he? Sam?'

'Cali,' said Kymopoleia. 'He's gone.'

'No.' Cali fell to her knees and wept. Above the gathered a storm erupted with raining pouring out of the sky.

Thanatos beat his wings and vanished.


	34. Odyssey

**The penultimate chapter in the life of Sam Parker, demigod extra-ordinaire is here :D Yes, you've read that right. One more chapter and I've finished this story. I was going to finish it sooner, but then life happened and I decided to lenghten the story. Hope you enjoy this chapter and stay tuned for the last one. I hope to publish it next week. Please review and spread the word :)**

* * *

 **Chapter 33 Odyssey**

The pyre was ablaze in seconds. The grey shroud featuring the seven red sigils of the mages surrounding the black crossed torches had covered his entire body. Within moments the fire reached the body and the shroud caught fire as well. The drums and bagpipes started playing their tunes softly. Aside from the music only the sound was of the wood crackling.

The Roman demigods stood on the front row, with a little girl between them. The girl silently weeping as the fire burned bright. Beside them stood five cloaked mages and two goddesses. The eldest mage crouched and held the girl in hug. The funeral of Sam Parker was attended by all Olympians who paid their respects to the boy who had given his life for their past mistake. Even Artemis and Hera acknowledged him in death. Hestia shed a tear as Poseidon comforted her. Chiron and the campers gave Sam a final salute, with Cali, Eve and Jess flipping him off.

'He was a friend,' said John.

'A brother,' interjected Sarah.

'A card shark,' grinned Suzan.

'A son.' Mia wiped a tear away.

'A warrior.' Jade smiled a sad smile.

'A magician,' said Ronan.

'A hero,' finished Lou.

'My brother was all of these things and many more.' Her voice faltered. 'He was the greatest mage who gave his life to save countless of others. Even with his numerous flaws he is and shall always be Sam Parker, King of Aces, Fire Dragon, Guardian of Half Blood Hill and overall hero of Olympus.' Lou walked over to the fire and held out four hand drawn playing cards: an ace of each suit. She grinned. 'Aces high for all.'

With a swift motion the cards flew into the fire and burnt to a crisp, creating a pattern within the smoke. The four aces connected by a spiral.

The crowd of gods separated and a man stepped forward. He wore a suit and a pair of white gloves. His face seemed to be carved from stone. His eyes were sad. The man smiled at Lou as he opened his right hand and silver coin revealed itself. The man flipped it and it landed on top of the torches before the body completely vanished in the fire. The face of the man had changed. He vanished with a final wink.

Lou smiled a sad smile.

* * *

 _Amazon Mission Report A85/G4_

 _The mission was to kill every monster that was on the future location of the Amazon facility and establish a monster free perimeter. A favour for the united demigod community as the facility could be used as a place to stay for wayward or questing demigods._

 _Report written by Squad Leader Kinzie_

 _We were getting ready for the fight. All seven of us were putting on armour and getting our weapons ready when we heard the first wails coming from the building. We exchanged quick glances and ran to the building. Anna raised her shield and went in first. The rest followed suit. Once inside we spotted several smaller fires burning. They were used to cook and to warm the people inside._

 _Something came running from the shadows. It was a small cyclops who seemed to be running away. Anna disposed of it in a single attack. More noise was heard and more monsters appeared from the shadows, or came from the floor above through holes and other openings. Suddenly we heard a scream coming from above and the fire from the small fires disappeared._

 _We slayed every monster we could as we made our way to the floor above. Tara and Anna went in first and Diana closed the ranks as we entered the room. Monsters sat cowering in the corners as we saw a figure standing in the middle of the room. Flames licked his hands, but it didn't seem to bother him._

 _'Where are we?' he asked._

 _The boy, because that's what he was, a kid. Wore ragged clothes and cloak but a seemingly brand new shoe. There was a sword strapped to his waist. His left foot wasn't there._

 _'In California,' I said. 'Not that far from Los Angeles.'_

 _'Damnit, I thought I'd be further away. Listen, I gotta go. Anybody want to trade the sword for an axe?'_

 _'Who are you?' asked Anna._

 _'He's a monster,' said one of the cowering beasts. 'I've heard from him in Tartarus, he's the one who is feared by many including the Mother.'_

 _'I'm feared, cool,' he said with a grin on his face. 'So, no axes?'_

 _'I have an axe that we could trade,' said Diana. 'Tell me who you are and we can trade.'_

 _'I actually don't know my name, although I have been called the One Legged Bastard by a lot of monsters I've slain these past few days. Who are you?'_

 _'Well, Bastard,' I said. 'We're the Amazons, female warriors.'_

 _'Neat, anyway you could point me out to wherever Delphi Strawberries is? I have a letter that tells me to go there.'_

 _'New York City, last time I checked,' said Anna._

 _Diana and Bastard traded their weapons before he swung it at a monster who vanished in a cloud of dust. He grinned. He swiftly disposed of other monsters with fire and his axe. It wasn't the first time he had done this. Soon it was only us and the axe-guy._

 _'I lied,' he said. 'My name is Parker, you girls are cool though.'_

 _Then he jumped through a hole and vanished. On the floor he left a burn mark in the form of dragon._

* * *

The day had been great. Sunlight and a few cloud in a blue sky. Preparations were made for the War Games of that night. She walked alongside the border with a cookie in hand.

'Hey Terminus,' she called out. 'Anybody came through yet?'

'No Julia, and get those crumbs off your shirt.'

Julia grinned as she took another bite. She took a seat at the base of Terminus' statue. She took a look in a hand mirror and redid one of her pigtails. She stared at the city and saw the senators heading towards the senate.

'Julia,' called Terminus. 'We have a visitor.'

Julia got us and watched a figure walk up to the border. His gait was unstable as he seemed to limp.

'Greetings visitor,' started Terminus. 'If you wish to continue, you'll have to remove that axe and hand it over.'

'Yeah, right and get stabbed like Caesar with concealed knives?'

'Caesar was killed outside the Pomerian Line,' said Julia. 'Now, hand over the axe and any other weapon or else you're staying over there.'

'Fine.'

The cloaked figure removed his axe and pulled out three knives from his cloak. Julia collected them in a tray and invited the visitor in.

He stalked off towards the city and Julia decided to follow him around. His left foot was non-existent and only the sound of cane came from it. He walked into the city and stopped dead in his tracks. He turned his head around and removed his hood. A bruised face appeared with hungry eyes staring at one of the food stands on the forum. He walked over and grabbed some fried chicken and a piece of bread from the cart before stuffing it in his mouth.

The owner yelled at him, but the boy kept eating. Julia quickly joined them and talked to the man. The boy grabbed another piece of meat. One of the elder veterans approached the boy and grabbed him by the neck. The boy reacted by pushing the man in the nose and kicking him with the non-existent leg. A thwack resonated across the forum.

The boy panted as he quickly pulled up his pant leg and revealed a wooden leg like one a pirate would wear.

'Enough,' said one of the guards that had approached the fight.

'I need to speak to one of your senators,' the boy said.

'Who are you?' asked Julia.

'Janus, the pirate,' he replied with a grin.

Moments later the guards and Julia had escorted the boy to the senate where the meeting was in progress. One of the guards opened the doors and they walked in. As the room fell silent, the guards pushed the boy towards the front where the praetors were seated.

'What is the meaning of this?' asked Reyna as she petted Aurum.

The boy stared at her with a grin. They had not lied when they said that Reyna Ramirez could kill with a look.

'This boy has stolen food from one of the vendors,' said Julia. 'He has stated he needed to speak to one of our senators. To his defence, he looked as if he hadn't eaten in days and I don't think he has any money.'

'What she said,' replied the boy. 'I can pay it back if you can get me home, Frank Zhang.'

'Who are you?' asked Frank Zhang.

'Have you had contact with Camp Half Blood these past few weeks?'

'No, should we have?' asked Reyna.

'It would have made this easier. I am Parker, the slayer of Pandora.'

'The Mother of all Evil?' asked Frank.

'Well technically I did the killing,' spoke a voice. 'Life and eyes remember?'

'As if, she was still alive when I got her eyes,' said the boy as an armoured woman appeared in the Senate.

'You stupid kid,' she said as they hugged.

'Nice to see you too, Spes.'

'Spes?' asked Reyna. 'Impossible, we haven't seen her in millennia.'

'Looks like you've got to explain things,' said the boy.

'Later. Go finish your task. They won't have hope for much longer.'

The boy turned to the Senate and spoke. 'Who is Charlotte Perkins?'

A young woman in her mid-twenties stood up and looked puzzled. The boy walked over to her and pulled out a letter from his pocket. They spoke for a couple of moments before the senator got a worried look on her face and took a seat. The letter trembled in her hands.

'Spes, who is this boy?' asked Reyna.

'A crazy Greek who helped me get revenge on an old enemy. And a grandson of Janus.'

'Grandson? A legacy?'

'Well not exactly grandson, but you know. And yes, a legacy of Janus, the father of traitors.'

The conversation was cut short by the boy who walked back outside with the praetors and guards in hot pursuit. Julia and the goddess joined them as well. They followed the boy hobbling towards the temple hill. When the guards approached him, he turned around and grinned before waving his hands and watching the guards stumble.

When they reached the top of the hill, the boy stood before the temple of Janus. He grabbed the metal rings and opened the first set doors.

'Janus, what are you doing?' asked Julia. 'We're not at war.'

He held up his finger and walked over to the other side and opened the other set of doors. He reappeared in front of the group. 'You weren't, because the Greeks stopped it.' He closed the second set again and stood in front of the open doors.

Suddenly he screamed as he grabbed his arm. A moment later, a tattoo stood on his arm. A key crossed with a torch and a smaller version of Janus stood below the letter SPQR. No lines stood below that.

'Gods, that hurts,' he spat. 'Thanks grandpa.'

He walked into the temple and stared at the group one final time with a grin. 'Nero was nothing compared to me.' The doors closed and a bright light came through the cracks.

'Send Charlotte to Camp Half Blood immediately.'

* * *

She turned around and faced the wall. The door opened and someone walked in. _Not someone, she_. Lou had recognized her voice and gait as she had ascended the stairs. Lou breathed in and smelled her scent. She could feel her gaze watching her. A backpack was dropped and shoes fell to the floor. She closed her eyes as the woman laid down beside her.

'I've been hearing bad news about you,' she said with a slight British accent. 'Has Lou been a naughty girl?'

'Stop that,' huffed Lou. 'You know bloody well that I can't resist that accent.'

She turned around and stared into the blue eyes of Charlotte. 'Why are you here, Charlotte? Aren't you supposed to be studying and doing senator stuff?'

'A couple of birds told me that you've been down and staying inside for the past two weeks. You haven't been eating properly as well.' Every word was laced with the British accent. 'Remember the last time you did that? I had to drag you out of the room. Why don't you go and play a round of that game everybody likes to play.'

'Stop that,' whined Lou. 'What have my siblings told you?'

'We heard about the war against Pandora and how you lost both Alabaster and a new brother called Sam. And you feel guilty about those deaths, don't you. You couldn't have saved them, Lou. It's not your fault.'

'I know that, but I just feel so empty. Sam was barely thirteen years old, Char. He had his entire life in front of him and now he's dead. At least he'll be on the good side of the Underworld.'

'Why's that?'

'He sacrificed himself to kill off Pandora,' replied Lou. She let out a laugh. 'This scrawny kid has cursed the gods, pissed off more people than I can count and he still managed to die with a smile on his face. He was a pain in the ass, but he was ours, you know?' Charlotte nodded. 'And now he's gone and I just can't sleep because of it. His little sister just broke down when we brought her the news. She yelled at me because I was to keep him safe.'

'It's the danger that comes with the blood,' said Charlotte. 'You'll feel better after a shower. You stink and you're a wreck.'

'Sod off.'

Charlotte grinned. 'Don't try, it won't work, little miss Sourpuss. Shower, now.'

'Do I have to? I still have to look at the scoreboard, the thing's been broken ever since Sam died. It keeps tallying scores for him.' Lou gave Charlotte her best puppy-eyed look.

'Do you want me to wash your hair?' asked Charlotte.

'Yes, ma'am.' She nodded. Before she walked into the bathroom and ran a bath.

'Do you want to go for a walk afterwards? Or we could try out that game those kids are playing, it seems fun.'

'Sam designed it. It's supposed to be an Ancient Greek version of D&D of sorts. Sam was fond of games; Anything involving chances and cards he'd be wanting to play. Chiron thinks that the game was Sam's parting gift.'

'This Sam sounds like a fun kid.'

'He was. A bit nuts, but so are we so he really fitted right in.'

'Just one more thing. This Sam, he wouldn't happen to have a missing left leg, would he?'

Lou dashed back out. 'How do you know?'

Charlotte stared at Lou. 'I think I might have some bad news for you guys. And some very good as well.'

* * *

He staggered up the hill, the pine nearly within range. Pain ran through his body as every step. His breathing was heavy and ragged. He had jumped too far and had only found his way back thanks to a couple of lucky breaks. Monsters had either tried to murder him or ran away as soon as he mentioned Pandora.

Suddenly he heard a familiar growl behind him. A hell hound watched him from the distance. Sam smiled. The beast started sprinting, while Sam climbed up the hill. At every glance Sam saw the ruby red eyes getting closer. As the beast leapt, Sam turned around and killed the beast with a blast of magical fire.

'Tell your friends that I'm the apex now.'

The beast vanished in gold dust. Sam stumbled and panted as he sat against the pine tree. His thigh burned as never before. Sam pulled on the worn out pirate leg until he felt the pressure disappear. As the moon ascended through the sky, Sam felt dead tired. The silence was broken thanks to the sound of clattering metal and a horn of some sort. It was not long before Sam found himself staring at a group of armoured people wearing helmets with blue and red plumes. They carried golden and bronze weapons. Some people grinned.

'Is this Delphi Strawberries, the Ancient Greek Camp? I have this letter that told me to get here as soon as possible. Detoured a couple of times from L.A, but here we are. Odysseys are hard to do. But hey, no spilt dairy.'

He winced as the pain had black spots appearing in front of his eyes. He saw the crowd parting as a couple of people advanced. One of them removed the helmet. Grey eyes stared at him in a bemused look. A wicked smile appeared on Annabeth's face.

'You're in so much trouble, Lou is going to kill you.'

Then everything went black.


	35. Hell Hath No Furies

**AN: The final (extra long) chapter is here :D With 3000+ views this fic has been my most successful one to date and pretty much been the most interesting one to write. Hope you enjoy this final chapter. Thanks for all the reviews, views, favourites and follows, they kept me going until this point. Please review it's much appreciated.**

 **In case you enjoyed my writing, I might do another fic in the future as I have a couple of ideas left. Keep an eye open is all I recommend doing.**

 **Apparently you're supposed to do a disclaimer :p Well better late then never. I don't own anything from the original series, that's Rick Riordan's. I only own my OC's and the plot.**

* * *

 **Chapter 34 Hell Hath No Furies (Like a Women Scorned)**

The next morning Sam Parker smiled a small smile as he realized that for once, the great Annabeth Chase had been wrong. Lou didn't kill him when she had barged into the infirmary, she stared at him for a moment before she came back with Charlotte and asked her if that was the boy who had pissed off the Romans. Charlotte had nodded.

'Ha, a Roman chick, I told you,' he replied with a grin.

Lou gave him a death glare before she and Charlotte walked out, leaving him with Helen.

No, what Lou Ellen had done, was far worse. The eldest mage had contacted both of his moms and told them everything. It wasn't long before Sam Parker found himself sitting in his personal infirmary bed surrounded by angry women.

'And by the gods, if you ever pull a stunt like that again, I will have you spanked in front of all your friends,' warned Anne Parker as she waved her finger at him. The Roman demigod had barged in alongside the goddess of magic and had scolded him as she gave him a hug.

'I promise,' said Sam.

'And when you return from camp, you're grounded until further notice. And you will have finished that math summer work by the time camp is done. If not, we can also take away TV and other things you enjoy.'

'Yes, ma'am.'

'Do not sass your mother like that,' reprimanded Hecate. 'For that reckless use of magic I have decided to revoke your mage status. And yes, that means that from the moment I leave this room, you are no longer a mage, but a novice who needs to learn all the basics before he can receive his sigil. That's right, you're being stripped of your magical abilities until you earn them back.'

'That's fair,' replied Sam.

The two mothers stared at each other for a moment. 'What?'

'It's all fair, I realize that what I did was reckless and stupid and made a lot of people sad and angry. I should be punished and I accept all of it. I am responsible for my own actions and their consequences.'

'Who are you and what have you done with my son?' said Anne.

'Nothing, I grew up,' replied Sam. 'And was able to do something that I had been wanting to do for a long time. I finally said my goodbyes to dad.'

Before either the demigod or the goddess could reply, another group of people barged in. One of which was a nine year old girl. She beamed as she spotted Sam. Without warning Sarah Parker jumped up the bed and gave her big brother a hug before punching him on the shoulder.

'That's for leaving, jerk.'

'Language,' said Anne.

'I'm not leaving anytime soon. I hear you've been having fun with the other kids.'

Sarah nodded. 'It's really fun. Are you crying?'

'No,' said the demigod wiping his eyes. 'It's dusty in here.'

'Hello, Dragon,' said Circe with a grin. 'Never thought I'd see another mage come back from the dead. Left at the old oak?'

'Went right, so ended up in downtown LA. Thank gods I had gramps looking after me.'

'Lucky,' replied the goddess. 'I gotta go, with no one paying me for my time, I have things to settle on my island. Visit me from time to time, mom has the info.'

'What about you-know-what?'

'I can't pass on what hasn't been given,' replied Circe with a smile before vanishing.

'Are all you mages this nuts?' asked Sarah.

'Yeah,' replied Lou. 'It runs in the family, just look at your brother. A real nutter if you ask me. Sam, Amazon just brought a package for you.' Lou pointed at the box that she brought in. 'You haven't pissed off any female warriors, right?'

'Could very well be,' said Sam. 'I think I ran into some of them while I made my way back home. They were pretty cool though.'

Lou opened the box and pulled out an envelope, an orange jumpsuit and a black collar. She eyed the other people in the room.

'Sarah, why don't you go fetch your father? We have to go soon,' said Anne as she ushered her daughter out of the room under light protest.

Lou read the note out loud. 'Dear Lou and Sam (and other residents of cabin 20), I have heard from my sister about a young boy running rampant across the demigod community. As Fate wants it, it seems that he has also encountered some of my sisters and managed to escape without harm. It has come to my attention that this boy is Sam. Lou, included in this package you'll find an orange jumpsuit and collar that will fit him perfectly. Use it wisely.'

'Hell no,' said Sam. 'I'm not wearing that.'

'You will,' said Lou. 'And you will do so while doing community work. We'll work out the details later, but trust me, a lot of people could use a pair of hands to help out.' A wicked grin appeared on her face.

'Mom?' Sam looked at the other women in the room.

'She's in charge of you at camp, so we have no authority here,' replied Anne.

Sam stared at them with a shocked expression. 'But…'

'No buts,' replied Hecate. 'You will do as told, or should we add another punishment to the list?'

Sam sighed. 'No ma'am.'

'Good, then we'll leave you in the good hands of these fine ladies.' Hecate and Anne gave him a hug before stepping outside. Helen and Harley had joined them.

'I have some things to do,' said Lou before grabbing the box and nodding at Harley before leaving.

Harley approached the bed alongside Helen.

'Hi,' said Sam. Harley did not reply, but pulled back the sheets and revealed the sore and infected stump.

'Sam,' said Harley. 'Do you remember what I told you the first time you got in here?' The doctor stared at her patient as she gloved up.

'You said that you'd have Helen give me a good scrub.'

'Helen, asses the patient for me.'

Helen smirked. 'The patient hasn't washed in approximately two weeks. Malnourished and dehydrated as well. Lacks a lot of vitamins and minerals. Minor cuts and scrapes.' Helen ordered Sam to move so that she could spread out a plastic sheet over the bedding. 'Various bruises, infected cuts and a burn wound. His stump is extremely sore and inflamed. I recommend a night's stay at the infirmary, a decent diet and a thorough washing.'

'Washing?'

Harley grinned. 'Helen, you may proceed.'

Sam watched Helen approach with a sponge and water-filled bowl in hand.

* * *

 _Two weeks later_

'Have you finished your math homework for this week?' asked Suzan.

'Do you have to bring that up? I haven't set foot in the cabin since dawn. Five minutes of rest is all I ask.' Sam dropped into the couch and laid there face down.

'That's no answer.'

'I haven't,' groaned Sam.

Suzan smiled as she pulled out his binder and laid open a new page of unfinished math exercises. 'It's not that hard. Want me to explain it to you?'

'Math is the devil's work,' sighed Sam.

'Your dad was a mathematician and a damn good one too, I wonder where this hate is coming from.'

'Mrs Ekto, our Maths teacher. That woman is insufferable. Every hour with her seems like an eternity. And she'd pick on me every chance she got.'

'Mrs. Ekto? Does she have a first name?'

'Anna-Lee, I think.'

At that point Annabeth and Lou walked into the cabin and stared at the youngest demigod laying on the couch and the binder.

'Need help with that?' asked Annabeth. 'If I can help Percy achieve a better grade, you really have a shot.'

'No thanks,' said Sam. 'I'll never need it in real life anyway. Stupid algebra.'

Annabeth stared at Suzan who showed an equally shocked expression.

'I have your schedule for the next weeks,' started Lou. 'It's pretty packed. Demeter cabin needs you on harvest duty, Ares and Apollo need an arrow boy at the archery range. The kids need you to be their DM for the next couple of days and then there a few surprises as well. Oh, and Annabeth has claimed you for the day after tomorrow. Something about a deal you made?'

'From dawn till dusk I'm yours. Still haven't a clue as to why you'd want to research me.'

Annabeth grinned. 'Late to being claimed, curses anybody even the gods and gets out pretty much unscathed, mage who couldn't properly do magic until he unleashes a dragon to kill the Mother of All Evil and now you're back from the dead. Sounds interesting to me.'

Sam sighed as he got up. 'Now if you'll excuse me, I've got some business to take care of.'

'Be in bed by ten,' said Lou. 'Olympus has invited us.'

Sam grunted a reply as he walked out the door.

'What is it, the tenth straight day?' asked Suzan.

Annabeth nodded. 'She's really mad.'

Lou grinned a little.

* * *

He took a seat on her porch, right beside the door. It was one of his earliest tasks as community service. After people saw what the Hecate cabin was like, they wanted some things to change around theirs as well. The daughter of Poseidon had asked for a porch to be built "until the son of Hecate has blisters".

Sam pulled out a deck of cards and practiced his sleight of hand while he waited in the evening shade of the porch. This was the tenth day since his return that he sat beside her door, waiting for a reply from the daughter of the storm goddess. She was the first one who had come to visit him in the infirmary. Sam had shown her a grin before she had slapped him across the face and broken his nose. They hadn't spoken to each other since then.

'So, here we are again,' said Sam as he shuffled his cards once more. 'I guess you still hate me. I was secretly hoping you'd kiss me, but all I got was a slap and a broken nose. No worries, Harley set it and healed it.'

'I saw you at the archery range today, was that Eve giving you those lessons she promised you? That's pretty neat, maybe you could teach me that too? Since mom banned me from doing magic, I'm trying to get better at physical combat. Swords still aren't my forte though.'

He laid out the aces and eights in a diamond pattern. Sam stretched out his legs and popped off the prosthesis. He let out a sigh of relief. 'Could we talk when I get back from Olympus? Not that I'm not liking our porch moments, but I'd like to talk face to face.' He heard noise from the inside. 'You know what? When I was in the labyrinth and unleashed the dragon I saw things, things that happened and might happen. I saw us as well, sitting somewhere as the sun was setting. I think we were happy. Maybe we can try again?'

Sam heard some stumbling noises from the inside. He sighed and popped his leg back on. He stood up and stared at the door.

'Listen I got to go, curfew and all, but I'd appreciate it if you could let me know something by morning.'

And with that Sam Parker walked back to his own cabin.

* * *

They stood in the elevator as Lou pushed the secret button. Both mages wore their cloaks and camp shirts. Lou also wore a skirt and sandals which got her raised eyebrows from her siblings as she appeared at the breakfast table with Charlotte.

'So you won't take some fashion advice from your sister, but you'll take it from your lover? Nice family we got,' said Suzan with a grin.

'Oh shut up,' huffed Lou as she lobbed a spoonful of yoghurt at Suzan, which in turn got her a slap on the head by both Charlotte and Root.

As the elevator music continued to play while they arrived at floor 600, Sam smiled. Something he had been doing ever since he appeared at the breakfast table.

'You're pretty happy about something,' said Lou.

'Yeah,' replied Sam as he felt his mp3-player in his pocket, the note crumpling around it. She wanted to talk in the afternoon.

'Cali?'

Sam nodded as the giant doors to the throne room opened. The two demigods walked into it and walked until they stood before the multitude of gods and goddesses. Beside the Olympians, there were a couple of minor gods as well. Hecate greeted her children with a nervous smile.

'Sam Parker,' spoke Zeus loudly. 'You were summoned here by the Council to receive a token of our gratitude for saving Camp Half Blood and Olympus. We have extended the same courtesy to several of you fellow campers, but you were rather absent when that happened.'

'Thank you my lord,' spoke Sam after bowing.

'Who are you and what have you done with Sam Parker?' asked Artemis. 'He would've shown us a grin and made sure he was to get a reward.'

'May I speak freely, my lords, my ladies?'

'Speak as you wish Sam,' said Poseidon.

'I have seen things, lady Artemis. When I was in the labyrinth and the dragon roared, I had raw magic running through me. And I saw many if not infinite possibilities, past decisions that may influence the future, how things could've been different if this or that never happened or something else did. I have seen the future I would've had if a certain truck hadn't rammed us off the road, if I hadn't been adopted by a loving couple, if I hadn't been the son of goddess. I've seen so many things that I wish I hadn't. But then there were paths taken that will be your downfall.'

'Our downfall?' asked Athena. 'How?'

'I've seen things you've done in the past that will come and haunt you in the future. I can't explain every vision to you, so I decided to draw them for you.' Sam pulled out a pouch from his cloak and opened it. 'Lou, will you hand every board to each of them?' Sam pulled out a board and called out a name. Every Olympian received a board and a couple of the minor gods as well.

'I am no great artist, so I used my fire magic to sear every image onto the board you've received. Some were clearer than others. Lady Hera, could you tell the Council what you see?'

The goddess stared at him with big eyes. 'I see a man wielding a club, a hydra I think and a lion skin. Hercules? That can't be.'

'You did make him mad and he killed his own family, right? It's not that he will be your downfall, he might be. I merely have seen visions for each of you. Each of you could be the root of Olympus' downfall.'

'Why show us this?' asked Aphrodite.

'You deserve it,' said Sam. 'Consider it a gift. And I have come bearing more gifts.' Sam showed a grin.

'And there he is again,' said Poseidon with a sigh.

'We will discuss this later,' declared Zeus. 'Sam Parker, for your sacrifice against Pandora we would like to offer you immortality, the possibility of becoming a god.'

'Any way I can trade it for something else? Because I don't want to be a god, but you can do something else for me.'

'Why don't you demigods want to be immortal anymore?' asked Zeus. 'You'd live forever.'

'Because that sucks,' said Sam. 'Spending eternity among you lot? No thanks, I'd become a sourpuss like Hephaestus or Dionysius in no time.'

'Watch your tongue, young man,' said Hecate. 'One more word and I'll tell your mother.'

Sam rolled his eyes. He muttered an incantation and waved his hand. Suddenly a silver plate with a dome on top appeared in his hands. He walked over to Athena and handed her the plate he made a lifting motion and the goddess lifted too dome to reveal a piece of meat.

'What is that?' asked Nike.

'It's a tongue,' said Demeter with a tone of disgust.

Sam motioned the goddess to hand him the plate. Athena handed him the plate and Sam placed the piece of meat into his mouth. He closed it and waved his hands. The plate disappeared and he smiled.

'There, now you can tell everybody that Athena, goddess of wisdom handed Sam Parker his tongue on a silver plate.'

Lou pulled him back to the centre of the room, pushed him on the chair she had conjured and drew symbols in his neck. 'Two more weeks in the jumpsuit,' she said. 'And no deserts for a week.'

'Enough,' said Hades. 'I wish to hear what he has to say. If he would mention his way out of my domain, I would be most grateful. What is your wish?'

Sam scrapped his throat and pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket. 'I assume that you could do anything I ask?'

'If it is within reason,' said Hera.

'I have several requests,' said Sam. 'First of all, I want to sit on Ares' throne. Secondly, I would like Alabaster Torrington to be allowed to go to the Isle of Blessed, thirdly I want to have the Ancient Law abolished, fourthly I wish to…'

'Wait,' said Hestia from to hearth. 'You want what?'

'The throne, Isle of Blessed for Torrington, the Ancient Law abolished, fortified borders for Camp Half Blood, my record at the Romans expunged and …'

'Abolish the Ancient Laws? Are you insane?' asked Dionysius.

'You tell me.' Sam grinned. 'And I only want one abolished.'

'Speak,' said Zeus.

'For being gods you are pretty dense beings,' said Sam. 'Have you any idea what you bring upon us demigods? You are here, safe from harm until the enemy stands at your doors, while we wage war and go on quests. We live in fear every time we step outside the borders, we give you life but you only give us death.'

'He's right,' said Lou. 'Have you any idea what we endured during the wars?'

'I want you to be parents first, and gods second,' said Sam. 'If you can, I would appreciate it if you could try to see it from our perspective once in a while.'

'Not abolish but be less strict about us not interfering in our children's lives,' said Athena.

'Yes.'

'We will discuss it later,' said Zeus. 'Your further requests?'

'My final request is to all of you. I want you to transform into your Disney counterparts. And I want proof.' Sam crumpled the paper and put it back in his pocket.

'Alright, Ares let him sit on your throne, Hades see to it that Torrington arrives on the Isle, Hecate, Hephaestus and Athena, start designing the fortifications,' said Zeus. 'Have Justitia visit the Romans and expunge his record, but it's a no on the Disney.'

'Aw, please?' pleaded Sam. 'Only one of you?'

'No,' said Zeus. 'Now stop it, or I'll have you chained to a rock. You may choose one more thing, but we need something in return. You need to promise us that you will always protect the young ones at camp.'

'You have my word, Lord Zeus.' Sam bowed his head.

'What does that mean, your word?' asked the war god.

Sam grinned once more as he took out a second pouch from his cloak and threw it at Ares. The god caught and opened it. His look went vacant as he dropped the pouch. A bloodied spoon and a sphere fell out of it. The sphere blinked.

'Your word is well enough,' said the war god as he stepped from his throne.

Sam advanced and used the steps to climb up and just before he sat down, he unbuttoned his trousers with a grin.

* * *

'He did what?' asked Annabeth as Lou let go of his ear as they arrived at the arena.

'Don't make me repeat it,' said Lou. 'And stop laughing, it wasn't funny.'

'Yes it was,' said Sam rubbing his ear. 'Why are we here, I have to go and see Cali? And why are there so many people here?'

'You're going to be a sparring partner for some people, they booked you for an afternoon.'

'Sam,' said George. 'There was a package delivered at our cabin for you.' George showed him the small crate in his hands.

Lou and Annabeth helped him open it while George watched. It was a Celestial Bronze construction with Imperial Gold parts. It had a joint-like hinge in the middle.

'It's a prosthesis,' said Annabeth.

Sam picked it up. It was lighter than he thought it would be, but it seemed sturdy enough. The design made it look like a futuristic robot leg and the toes were a fine touch. Sam thought it kind of looked like Bucky Barnes' arm.

Lou picked up the note and handed it to Sam. He opened it and snickered at the message.

 _Thanks for making an old sourpuss laugh – Hephaestus_

With the help of the counsellors Sam managed to change his prosthesis for the new one. Gearing up in lightweight armour, his cloak and twin axes, Sam stepped out of the catacombs and sloughed towards the middle of the arena, where he awaited his opponents. As he stared at the crowd, he spotted several gods and goddesses sitting next to the demigods.

The crowd became agitated as three opponents dressed in full gear without helmets walked into the arena. Sam recognized Cali as she unsheathed one of her blades and raised her shield. Next to her stood Eve, sword drawn but bow and arrow easily within reach on her back. The third one was rather unexpected. She showed him a wicked grin. Lianne's eyes glinted as she twirled her two hunting knives.

Sam and Cali marched towards each other.

'Thanks for being a great guy, Sam Parker.'

Before he could react, Cali had pressed her lips against his. The crowd cheered.

'So, we are not going to talk?'

'Afterwards. I've already asked Harley to prepare your bed,' she replied.

'So, you already assume I will lose.'

'I know you will, Peg Leg. No shiny new one will help you.'

'Is that so, Sunshine?'

'You are going down.'

Sam raised his axes as the ladies prepared themselves.

* * *

After the fight, not all people went to the dinning pavilion for their dinner in celebration of the rewrite of the ancient decree and the design of the bead of this year.

'Stop whining,' said Harley. 'It's nothing but disinfectant.'

'But it hurts,' grunted Sam as the doctor applied a Band-Aid on the cut above his eyebrow.

'Yeah, yeah, we've heard it by now,' said Cali. 'You have a boo-boo and mommy needs to give it a little kiss.'

'You can give it a kiss too you know.'

'Do that outside,' said Harley. 'I have no need for pubescent lovers.'

'You vex me,' said Sam.

'Get out, or I'll vex you where the sun don't shine.'

The two lovers bolted out of the room with Harley shaking her head with a smile.

They reached the pavilion just in time for the announcement.

Chiron motioned everyone to be quiet. 'My lords, my ladies and campers. Together with the head-counsellors we have come with the design for this year. Will.'

Will Solace flicked a switch and a projector showed them the design.

'It is a black bead bearing a fiery ace of clubs within a silver storm cloud. It represents Sam Parker's sacrifice in the Battle of Half Blood Hill and Cali Mayweather's victory against the Hunters of Artemis,' said Chiron.

The crowd cheered until Lou Ellen rose from her seat and stood on the table.

'Yeah right, that's because we couldn't officially say that it was Cali who kicked his butt so easily. To my baby brother and Storm Girl, may she kick his butt many more times.'

The two stared at each other before they vanished and reappeared at the beach.

'Thanks gramps,' muttered Sam before they strolled towards the sea and Sam spread out his cloak as a beach towel.

'So here we are, at the end of camp, sitting at the beach,' said Sam.

'Yep,' replied Cali. 'And staring at the stars.'

The two turned towards each other and kissed.

'You still have my headphones,' said Sam as she laid her head on his chest.

'You're a big doofus Sam Parker,' she said with a laugh. 'But you're my big doofus.'


End file.
